Pinewood

Part of 4. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:29 pm on 6 December 2017.

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Photo of Suzy Davies Suzy Davies Conservative 3:29, 6 December 2017

That's an encouraging response, Minister. I just want to make it plain that this question is not raised as an attack on the growing film industry in Wales, despite comments from Welsh Government to that effect. I'm raising it in an attempt to break through the lack of transparency surrounding how some decisions were made and whether representations made by Welsh Government about the positive outcomes we should expect from Pinewood in particular are proving justified.

So, first of all, last month, Welsh Government's decision log confirmed that Welsh Government had signed off a new management agreement for the Pinewood Studio facility in Wentloog. Considering that the Government spent £5 million to buy that facility in 2014, but, due to rent structure, it didn't see any rent return on that for the first two years, you can understand, perhaps, why I would like to know why that agreement needs restructuring. How much rent, and other income, are you expecting to be paid, and by when, from that restructured arrangement?

Secondly, the productions of the studios—Journey's End, for example, has recouped just £80,000 of the £850,000 received from Welsh Government. And Take Down, or Billionaire Ransom, as it's rather ironically known in the US, has recovered less than a third of its £3.1 million investment. Now, I understand that the income-generation end of film production is at the end of its cycle, and I know that supply chains have benefited from these investments. But if Welsh Government is going to take risks—and we do approve of that—then the processes for managing those risks need to be open to scrutiny, partly so that we can find out when you're expecting returns, and how much, by a particular date, and also on potential conflicts of interest. Because the gatekeeper of the media investment budget is another branch of Pinewood—one of these films is a Pinewood production—and it, of course, has been filmed at Pinewood Studios. In keeping Pinewood committed to Wales, can you also commit that your department will answer my questions, which go to the heart of this lack of transparency, including the one that I've asked today?

And then, finally, you announced very recently that Pinewood will no longer be the gatekeeper of the media investment board, which suggests that maybe their bonds with Wales aren't quite as strong as we might have hoped. Can you tell me whether that was at Welsh Government's request, or their request, and whether the decision was influenced in any way by questions raised in the House of Keys, in the Isle of Man, where there's a similar arrangement?

You can see where my concerns are coming from. We've got three issues there, which kind of raise questions about Pinewood's commitment, and I'm really looking forward to some meat on the bone to the reassurance that you gave me a little earlier. Thank you.