1. Will the Minister make a statement responding to the pledges outlined in the cultural manifesto for recovery by What Next? Cymru? OQ56564

Can I thank Heledd Fychan for my first ministerial question? Thank you very much. The Welsh Government is committed to creating a cultural strategy setting out our priorities and ambitions for the arts, culture and sport. This will sit alongside the statements of priorities already created for Creative Wales, Visit Wales and the historic environment.

I thank the Deputy Minister for her answer, and I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your new role, and I look forward to working with you constructively as the party's spokesperson on culture.

A central element of the What Next? Cymru campaign was the need to strengthen the cultural dimension across the Welsh Government, and I very much welcome the fact that there will be a cultural strategy. But they wanted to see responsibility for culture and creativity being given to a full member of the Cabinet and ensuring that all Government departments support, fund and demand a strong cultural element in their work. With you, unfortunately, a Deputy Minister as opposed to a Minister, how do you intend to ensure a more central role for the arts and culture in the Government of the sixth Senedd, as compared to the fourth Senedd and fifth Senedd, and tackle the underinvestment that has been seen for over a decade? Will you and the Minister for Economy work closely together to ensure that?

Thank you, again, for that supplementary question. What I would say in terms of the position of the Minister with responsibility for culture, I think it's more important that the Minister delivers on what is being asked rather than the position in the hierarchy of Government. And I'm very clear about my role in that and my role with the Minister for Economy in making sure that the cultural sector plays a key part in economic recovery. And as part of developing the cultural strategy, the Welsh Government is going to be engaging with a whole range of stakeholders, including What Next? Cymru. We've got a meeting with them scheduled shortly. In fact, I met with a representative from What Next? Cymru in my constituency just prior to the election, and she went through the cultural manifesto with me. You and I have got a meeting scheduled at the end of the month, and I'm also meeting with the Conservative spokesperson on culture and sport, and I hope that everybody will be contributing to the work that we'll be doing around that area.

And I think that it's important to set out that, throughout the pandemic, the cultural sector has worked hard to produce opportunities for people to engage with culture and heritage, particularly through digital services, and I want to ensure that that continues and that we have a sustainable development for the sector. We will continue to invest in projects to deliver new and improved cultural organisations, increasing access to our collections and cultural assets from across Wales, including digitising the National Museum Wales collections of contemporary art and the creation of a new football museum and developing Theatr Clwyd. We're also looking to create a memorandum of understanding with the Arts Council of Wales, to ensure alignment between the creative sectors and the arts sector. Through the freelancer and public sector pledges, we're working with the sector to ensure a more co-ordinated approach, moving forward. Events are also a vital part of the visitor economy, and we fully recognise the importance of those to the sector.

So, to answer your question directly, a key part of my work is to work with the economy Minister in making sure that the cultural sector is adequately funded and is part of the key elements of the economic recovery in Wales, and they will play a key part in that.

Minister, there is no denying that Wales's cultural sector has taken a hammering as a result of the measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Many theatres dropped the final curtain for the last time 15 months ago and, sadly, far too many will never see the footlights switched back on. Music venues and comedy spots also face an uncertain future. I welcome the easing of restrictions, but, for many venues, the damage done may be too great. 

Minister, we need an arts revival to bolster the sector. Will you join me in congratulating the Rhyl Little Theatre in my constituency, the Vale of Clwyd, who, through a crowdfunding scheme, raised moneys to improve their facilities so that they can continue to provide a first-class setting for budding artists? Do you also agree that venues like the Rhyl Little Theatre are vital to ensuring not only the success of future performing artists, but also to the revival of Wales's cultural arts economy?

Yes, and can I thank the Member for that question also and agree with him? And I will certainly offer my congratulations to the facility in his constituency and region, in the Vale of Clwyd. These small organisations are a key element of the cultural sector and we need to support them, and we want them to thrive in the post-pandemic world as well. The cultural recovery fund, of course, has been a significant assistance to a number of the organisations in that sector, and I hope that will continue. And, as I said in response to Heledd Fychan's question, these organisations will be an integral part of the post-COVID recovery.

The creative sectors across Wales and the UK have undoubtedly been devastated and traumatised by the ongoing COVID pandemic, as has already been referenced. The Welsh Labour Government is to be commended on its election pledge to establish a national music service to make sure that a lack of money is no barrier in Wales to young people learning to play an instrument or study voice. Members will know that I have campaigned across the fifth Senedd for such a commitment. So, it has never been more critical for Wales and our creatives, and for the survival of a creative Wales, that this occurs alongside a vibrant cultural strategy. Deputy Minister, can you clarify the importance of a national music service within the Welsh Government's culture strategy, going forward, and how will you advance that?

Well, can I thank Rhianon Passmore for that supplementary question? And I think it is, at this point, worth just saying a little bit about the work that the last Government did on the cultural strategy. My predecessor, Dafydd Elis-Thomas, commissioned strategies across his portfolio, and that included the cultural priorities strategy, and that work was significantly progressed, involving a steering group of key stakeholders, and I believe Heledd Fychan was a member of that key stakeholder group. But the manifesto pledge particularly on establishing the national music service is a key commitment that is being processed through joint working between myself and the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, and work has already commenced on developing a range of options to create a sustainable pathway for music education in Wales, working with a range of stakeholders.

The focus is to develop a way forward that builds on the excellent work already being delivered across music education organisations, and ensure that children and young people's well-being is enhanced through access to music. The Welsh Government education directorate has made funding of £1.5 million available for 2021-22 to support music education and music services, and can I thank the Member particularly for her work in this area? She's been a great champion of the national music service, and her support for this initiative has been greatly welcomed, and I look forward to continue working with her, and other Members across the Chamber, and stakeholders, to ensure that this service is developed and delivered.