1. Will the Minister provide an update on the support that will be available to the arts in Wales after the UK Government announced a package to support the sector to cope with the effects of COVID-19? TQ466

Thank you for that question, Siân. We do have an economic resilience fund in place already as a Welsh Government, providing a package of business support that is among the most generous in the UK. But we are also aware through our ongoing discussions with the sectors, including the arts and culture, what longer term challenges they will face and what additional support they will need.  

At last, the announcement came from the Minister for culture in England on funding for the arts in Wales. It's very frustrating to have to wait for such announcements before Welsh Government can take any action. I'm sure you would agree with that. Will you proceed without delay to establish a taskforce, to include every part of the sector, to draw up an action plan to save the arts sector because they are in crisis? The plan needs to secure support for every part of the sector, from the theatres and the arts centres to the thousands of freelancers that are an integral part of the ecology of the arts in Wales. 

Thank you very much. I agree with the content of your question, but I cannot respond constructively on the establishment of any sort of new taskforce, because I do think that we have the effective bodies in place already in Wales, through the Arts Council of Wales, but also through local government. And I have already had discussions—this morning, as it happens—with local authorities on the possibility of using more local councils to support the arts within communities. And therefore, whilst I welcome the expenditure of £59 million that will be available to Wales, I won't be the one to make the decision on that expenditure, because according to the funding regime in place in Wales—as is the case with Scotland and Northern Ireland—the funding is distributed on the basis of devolved expenditure in Wales and corresponding expenditure in England. But it doesn't follow that that expenditure will be spent in its entirety on what happens in England. And if we were to start to go down that route, then what would be the purpose of having a Government in Wales, having a Welsh budget, and providing freedom for Welsh Ministers to decide what is best? And therefore I don't intend to commit to following what's happening in England.

Well, of course, Deputy Minister, you could spend more than they're going to spend in England—the choice goes up and down, doesn't it? But I think it's very important that this hugely substantial aid that's now going to come to the arts sector in England and therefore will have a massive consequential—£59 million, or so—for Wales is spent in both an enterprising and a strategic way. I note in England the Minister there says that he wants to combine effective local support with preserving what he calls the crown jewels of the artistic infrastructure in England. And it does seem to me that our great institutions in Wales will need protection as well, because so many of them are just not going to be able to operate anything like a normal business model until well into 2021 at the best. So, can you assure us that you will be working with all these great institutions? And also, will you be taking the opportunity to further your Fusion plans in terms of access and equality in the arts, because it does seem to me that, given the level of this public support, we are going to be in a position to require that agenda to be progressed rapidly?

I can certainly tell him positively that the Fusion scheme is one that I've inherited through one of my long-standing political friends, Kay Andrews—Baroness Andrews—who devised the scheme, reported to Welsh Government to set it up. And I can assure you that I would regard that as a priority for further investment, because it brings together whole issues in relation to disability and community arts, and relates them to what we can do.

Now, you also said 'institutions'. I want to make it quite clear this funding that we've had is not necessarily for institutions. It's for institutions that have business plans to deliver. It is also for those individuals—the individual artistic workers—who are self-employed, the overwhelming majority of them. And I think it's very important that we look to the whole sector. It's for the personnel who deliver artistic services, as well as the institutions.

I obviously hear what the Minister says about the way that devolved finances work, but he will be aware—I know he is aware—of how serious the crisis facing the sector is and the cliff edge that we face as we come to the position where furlough begins to be scaled back in August. There are already arts institutions that are making some staff—. They're issuing redundancy letters because they may have to let staff go at the end of July. So, while understanding what the Minister has said about the time that there will need to be a decision by Welsh Government about how much of this money is spent in this sector—and of course, as Chair of the committee, you would expect me to wish that it all will be—can I ask the Minister whether he has an indicative timetable by when these decisions about the amount of money will be made, and also about when the sector will know how they can apply for it?

Well, the initial discussion among Ministers will happen this week. You talk about applying for it, but we haven't yet decided whether this is to be part of an already existing scheme, backing up what the arts council have done, and I'm very grateful for the way the arts council has managed the £7 million that we made available to them before we knew we had this further funding. So, it'll be discussed with the arts council, and particularly with the Welsh local authorities, because I think it's important that we revitalise the community arts and the theatres and the artistic activity that, traditionally, has gone on through the partnership between the local authorities and the arts council.

I thank the Deputy Minister. The next topical question is to the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, and the question is to be asked by Carwyn Jones.