I'm grateful to you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I trust the Chamber won't be overtired by being slightly subjected to a bit too much Helen Mary Jones this afternoon, but the timetable is, of course, beyond my control.

I'm very grateful to have the opportunity to present to the Senedd the culture committee's report on the impact of COVID-19 on heritage and museums. We produced this report, of course, in the summer, and I'm very grateful indeed to all the witnesses, to our committee staff, to my fellow Members—I am biased, of course, but I think we're one of the best committees in the Senedd—and I'm very grateful, too, to the Deputy Minister, for his engagement on these issues and for accepting our recommendations. This is, of course, a short debate, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I can only touch on a few highlights.

As across our national life, the impact of the COVID pandemic on the heritage sector has been profound and potentially catastrophic. The doors were closed of our museums, of our national library, and the income dried up. But some matters have moved on since we presented our report, and the institutions have been able to make use of the support schemes that have been available. We welcome very much the Welsh Government's cultural recovery fund, and indeed the additional resources for that fund that were announced last week. And we do welcome the extension of the furlough scheme, though it would have been nice if it had been possible for that to happen when it was needed in the north of England and Wales, rather than waiting until it was needed in Surrey, but this is not the time to be churlish, and the major cultural institutions do assure us that they will be able to make use of that extension, which will, of course, help them retain their staff. Institutions have been able to open, except in the lockdown, though obviously numbers are restricted and therefore income is affected.

Witnesses highlighted to us the importance of being able to digitise their collections. That is the way, of course, in which the public across Wales, and indeed beyond, can access some of the very important items that we hold in our national institutions. But the capacity to do this, according to our evidence, through the pandemic has been varied. We're very glad that the Welsh Government has accepted our recommendation 4 about the need for a strategy to increase digital access to collections, and we look forward to seeing that national strategy being produced. However, despite Welsh Government accepting our recommendation 3 about resourcing digitalisation, we do have some outstanding concerns. The recently published tailored review of the national library made it clear that more work is needed in this field, and the library are clear that they need resources to make that possible. The committee will continue to be vigilant in this regard, and we look forward to further discussions both with the sector and with the Deputy Minister.

Witnesses told us that the crisis had made them reflect further on the need to expand and deepen access to our heritage and culture. That, of course, involves the digitalisation agenda, but it's also about national institutions working more closely with local institutions, local libraries, local museums and making our collections better available.

We recommended that Welsh Government revise the performance indicators for our national institutions, to promote more collaboration and to encourage the delivery of outcomes in health, education, tackling poverty and social inclusion. We were very convinced, Dirprwy Llywydd, by what the institutions told us of their ability to contribute to all these important agendas.

Now, again, we are very glad that the Welsh Government has accepted these recommendations, and the new cultural contract, which is required of institutions in receipt of the cultural recovery fund, is an important step in the right direction, but again, we believe there is more to do. In particular, it is vital that institutions are resourced to do this kind of outreach work.

There are many other important points in the report that I can't touch on now, Dirprwy Llywydd, because I want to make sure that both Members have time to contribute and that I have time to respond to the points that Members make. Just to once again extend my gratitude to all our witnesses, to our staff and to my fellow committee members, and I look forward to the debate.