Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:47 pm on 11 November 2020.
Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I think the number and the breadth of responses to this debate, the contributions, show that there's a broad consensus across this Chamber about how important the creative industries are to our national life and about how very important it is that we continue to support and maintain them through this difficult time.
I can't possibly respond to everything that everybody has said. I think it's interesting that a number of contributors have commented on the need for a path back to live performance, and that's something that I hope that the Minister will take from this debate today. Nobody is thinking that we can go back to live performances right now, but the sector needs to understand what that path back looks like. And the points that have been made by Rhianon Passmore, Jenny and others about the possibility of socially distanced gigs—there are ways to do things safely. And this ties into the points that David Melding made about people in the sector wanting to work. They need to work, they need to use their skills. These are not people, on the whole, who go into their jobs to make a fortune; they go into it to do what they love and to contribute to our cultural life. And while it is important that we support them financially, the clear message coming to us as a committee is that those people want to be active again.
David Melding was right, of course, again to highlight the insurance issues. And I'm glad, in the Government's response to our report, that those are being seriously looked at, because that will be, potentially, one of the biggest blockages to getting the sector open again. And David's point about those organisations that have diversified, that have sought other sources of income and, actually, ironically, being more fragile now than perhaps those who haven't succeeded, is I know something that the Minister will wish to respond to.
I wanted to thank Jenny Rathbone for her kind words about the committee's work, and that's very much appreciated. And a number of people have also commented, as Jenny did, about how well Creative Wales has responded. It's a huge challenge to a new organisation and a new way of working, and those positive comments were definitely borne out by what we heard in our evidence.
Siân Gwenllian touched on a number of very important issues. She's right to highlight how much work there is to do and the importance of this sector to the economy. I think we all know that it's important for many other reasons, but it is important to our economy, and David Melding mentioned that too. And a number of contributors commented on the importance of public broadcasting, and we will look to see how the Minister responds to the Ofcom consultation.
Siân mentioned Golwg360, and then the Minister, of course, refers to that as a potential model for support for the press in Wales more broadly, and that's certainly something that we as a committee will wish to pursue.
It is clear—Rhianon Passmore's contribution and Siân Gwenllian's—there is an audience out there. Not everybody is ready to go back to live performances, but some people most certainly are, and we need to have that road map, and I ask the Minister again for that.
I'm grateful to the Minister for his commitment today to provide a detailed response to some of the issues that have been raised. I am very pleased that it is new money. I like the word 'ychwanegol'—'extra'. I'm very, very pleased that that's confirmed, and his comments about the importance of the creative industries to the Welsh brand and how we are seen internationally.
I will bring my remarks to a close now, Dirprwy Lywydd; I can see that I'm running out of time. There is so much more that one could say, but I will just end by commending this report to the Senedd and committing to the sector that we as a committee will continue to work with them through this difficult time to make sure, as David Melding said, that an industry that's so important to us is there when this is all over. Diolch yn fawr.