7. What action will the Welsh Government take to support the Welsh heritage sector before the next parliamentary election? OQ55800

Llywydd, the Welsh Government continues to help mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the heritage sector by providing financial support packages, guidance and advice. That support will continue through the remainder of this Senedd term, including a focus on longer term recovery.

Thank you, First Minister. The COVID pandemic has obviously hit the heritage sector hard. National Museum Wales and the National Library of Wales are both institutions that have seen a drastic loss of revenue from the lack of visitors, or from no visitors, but this on top of significant reductions in grant-aid funding before the pandemic outbreak. The national museum and the national library are vital parts of Welsh heritage and culture, and need to be adequately supported. What plans do you have to put both institutions on a more sustainable footing, together with long-term funding agreements, to ensure they can continue to serve and benefit future generations in Wales?

Llywydd, I thank the Member for that question. It comes with the normal selective amnesia from the Conservative Party, because the reason that they're having reductions in assistance to those institutions in Wales is the result of a decade of austerity that her party imposed on people in Wales, with year-on-year reductions in the funding available to the Welsh Government for all the purposes that we provide. So, the single best way in which we can make sure that there is adequate funding, for our heritage institutions and for the rest of our public services, is to make sure that that policy is not reintroduced once the pandemic period is over. Anything the Member can do to persuade her colleagues in London of the advantages of the course of action that she advocates I'm sure would be very powerful with them.

First Minister, the Welsh Labour Government has launched the £53 million cultural recovery fund and the £18 million prior funding stream. Cultural and heritage organisations since September have been able to apply for funding as we begin the long, slow recovery from the greatest public health crisis of the last century, and this pandemic has spared no sector of our society. Indeed, the cultural landscape is the very fabric of Welsh life. So, First Minister, how will the Welsh Government assess the need, going forward into 2021, to aid Welsh cultural and heritage institutions so that they are not lost to future generations?

Llywydd, I thank Rhianon Passmore for that. The heritage strand in the cultural recovery fund—Members will know there were four strands in the £53 million fund—the heritage strand attracted over 120 applications, and so far over £380,000 in grants has been offered and accepted by organisations in the sector. We continue to assess, appraise and—wherever possible—approve applications to the fund. That has to be done by a panel process. There are some significant applications from major organisations such as the National Trust in Wales that are still going through that process, so I'm very pleased to provide Rhianon Passmore with an assurance that the £380,000 already agreed is not the end of the story, that those panels continue to meet, and that there will be further grants and awards made to the heritage sector here in Wales from that £53 million fund.