The next item is item 6, and this is a statement by the Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, and Chief Whip on Creative Wales's skills priorities for the creative industries, and I call on the Deputy Minister to make her statement. Dawn Bowden. 

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. The importance of the creative industries to the culture and economy of Wales is significant and, as such, must be nurtured and supported. Prior to the pandemic, the sector had a turnover of £2.2 billion and employed 56,000 people. A recent UK report also noted the potential for the sector to recover faster than the UK economy as a whole. 

The pandemic affected our creative industries in differing ways. While the music sector was hard hit with extended venue closures, other sectors were better placed to adapt. Following an initial standstill, the screen industry worked together to find solutions to restart production and, in June 2020, Wales was home to the first high-end tv drama to recommence production in the UK.  

The appetite for screen content has rocketed and shows no sign of abating. This, combined with the number of productions seeking to film in Wales, has seen the busiest period of activity ever, with over 24 productions shooting across Wales between May and October. This increase in production activity has seen an unprecedented demand for a skilled workforce. Whilst this is very positive news, it has highlighted the very real need for action to help address immediate skills shortages and to ensure that our workforce have the right skills for the future. If Wales is to maintain its position as an attractive UK production hub, the needs of the screen sector must be addressed quickly and in a coherent manner.

The Deputy Presiding Officer took the Chair.

When we launched Creative Wales, skills and talent support was identified as a key priority, and our actions to date have supported positive change. Within 18 months of its launch, Creative Wales has worked with all our partners in Wales, and at a UK level, to support 12 skills projects across the creative sectors, each addressing one or more of our priority areas. Whilst action has been taken across all sectors, due to the surge in production demand and the resulting need for crews, activity has inevitably focused heavily on screen-related skills.

Now, diversity and inclusion are, of course, a key focus of all our interventions, and we're committed to addressing the lack of diversity in both crews and supply chain, and I had the pleasure recently of launching Culture Connect Wales, a 12-month pilot that aims to increase opportunities for diverse communities in film and tv in Wales. The programme will develop a bespoke network and database for ethnically diverse communities working in film, tv and across multiple platforms. The pilot will help people who want to change careers, and will assist young people and people who are not aware of the opportunities in the sector. Creative Wales brought together all four terrestrial broadcasters to support this project, which will collectively bring about change in recruitment practices within the screen sector in Wales.

To better understand the current and future skills needs of the screen sector here, Creative Wales has partnered with the University of South Wales to conduct screen survey Wales 2021, a pan-Wales mapping of the screen sector, its workforce and training provision. The survey's findings and recommendations will be delivered in the coming months and will provide the evidence base for future screen skills activity. We will ensure that the voice of the industry—and the workforce, with trade union input—remains integral to any future skills discussions. We are also working with the University of South Wales to map the music sector in Wales. This will provide us with the cornerstone on which to build a future skills plan for this sector too.

Practical hands-on learning is the most efficient form of training within the screen sector, so maintaining the level of productions filming in Wales is critical to increasing training opportunities year on year. And Creative Wales continues to work with funded productions to guarantee a commitment to providing trainee opportunities in the form of paid placements. These placements are monitored to help ensure future careers pathways for all trainees, and, in the last two years, more than 120 trainees have benefited from paid placements on Creative Wales-supported productions. These include the Netflix drama Havoc, starring Tom Hardy and Forest Whitaker, His Dark Materials series three for BBC One, and the new Lucasfilm production, Willow, which will air on Disney+.

Looking forward, the establishment of a creative skills body, as a key Welsh Government programme for government commitment, will intensify our focus on skills and talent development across all our priority creative sub-sectors. Delivered internally through Creative Wales, with an enhanced skills and talent function, this approach will ensure that all future resourcing is co-ordinated and can directly support creative skills and talent initiatives in Wales. 

The skills body will continue the partnership approach already established through the Creative Wales film and tv skills stakeholder group. The group, which now has a membership of over 50, acts as a sounding board, bringing partners together to facilitate networking and collaboration work. So, the skills body's work will be overseen by a core skills steering group, which will report back to the Creative Wales non-executive board. Dirprwy Lywydd, we are currently working on the detailed arrangements for the creative skills body, and I will provide a further update in due course.

Finally, we will ensure that future creative skills activity supports our programme for government commitment to deliver the young person's guarantee and 125,000 all-age apprenticeships. Creative Wales is already working with colleagues in skills, higher education and lifelong learning on the delivery of CRIW, a new production apprenticeship model that has just launched in north Wales, following a very successful two years in south Wales, and we're looking at how this apprenticeship model can be replicated in other creative sectors.

Our interventions are also joined up and designed for the long term. The inclusion of film and digital media within the new curriculum from 2025 is a key example of this. It's a major step forward in aligning the needs of a growing sector with what is being taught in our schools. This focus on the long term is also crucial to our ambition to help young people build exciting careers in Wales, as set out by my colleague Vaughan Gething at the economy summit yesterday.

I am passionate about ensuring that the next generation views the creative industries as an accessible and rewarding career choice, providing our young people in Wales with great job opportunities in a sector providing valued content, serving all audiences, and which is key to supporting our future economic growth. Diolch yn fawr.

Conservative spokesperson, Tom Giffard.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I thank you, Deputy Minister, for your statement and I actually welcome some of the practical measures that you've indicated you'll take to improve the creative sector here in Wales.

You're right to say that the creative industry here in Wales has suffered over the past 18 months, and, whilst industries such as live music and shows in particular have been affected right across the UK, it's important to note that, in Wales, they've often had to deal with COVID restrictions that impact this sector for far longer than in some other parts of the UK. And to add into the mix now, some of these industries will also have to contend with COVID passes too—all while the First Minister keeps the prospect of future lockdowns on the table. So, not only have these industries had it more difficult here in Wales over the last 18 months, they're also lacking the stability and certainty to plan for the future too. So, I'll start by asking exactly what you make of the impact of the pandemic restrictions in Wales specifically and how it compares to other UK nations.

Your statement also makes very little reference to the live music industry. Whilst you touch upon the problems that the industry has faced, there has been very little action to help the live music sector specifically. We know that there has been a lack of long-term support for the music sector and particularly to address the huge disparities in that sector between rural and urban areas, and this statement does very little to address that either.

And whilst I welcome some of the action in today's statement to address the skills shortage in the creative industries, I, unfortunately, reject your suggestion, Deputy Minister, that the demand for a skilled workforce is, quote, 'unprecedented'. The shortage in skills in the creative industry has long been an issue and needs to be addressed. Clwstwr, in their 'Screen Work 2020' report, spoke at length about the skills shortages in this sector and warned the Welsh Government that it was a problem and called on it to address it. So, the Government was clearly forewarned on this issue, and I think it would be wrong to say that the current situation is unprecedented. That report said, and I quote:

'I think generally speaking, lots of companies out there, unless they've had direct involvement with Welsh Government are under the impression that there isn't a strategy or any joined up thinking in terms of skill development'.

Deputy Minister, such a quote is a damning indictment, don't you think, of the Government's approach until now, and so I ask: what action are you taking to improve the confidence of industry professionals in your Government strategy in this area? 

The Welsh Government's measures to support further practical learning within the creative industries are also welcome too, as we know that many of the jobs and skills required do not come from classrooms and textbooks, but instead from practical, on-the-job learning. So, I'm pleased to see the further measures that the Government is taking today in this area. But it's also worth noting that the introduction of the T-level courses in England in areas such as digital production, design and development, craft and design and broadcast and production have meant that these T-levels are producing a highly skilled future workforce with specialist skills in relevant creative areas. So, what lessons have you learnt from this scheme in England, and what discussions, if any, are ongoing to ensure a parity of esteem between any Welsh qualifications and those English T-levels?

We also need to encourage further awareness of career opportunities in the creative industries amongst young people as an attainable goal in Wales. Therefore, a strategy is required to engage with young people regarding careers in creative industries. Welsh Government should be more proactive in talking to creative industry stakeholders in establishing more targeted, ambitious goals for this strategy. So, can I ask you, Deputy Minister: how are the sectors working with schools and colleges to encourage young people to seriously explore the creative industries as a future career option? And how can we improve collaboration between this sector and higher and further education so that Wales is at the forefront of new skills and developments in that sector?

You also mentioned, Deputy Minister, that the Welsh Government is currently working on detailed arrangements for that creative skills body you mentioned, but, unfortunately, you gave no time frame or commitment for this. So, can I ask you for a firm indication on when that will be established?

Finally, I note that you mentioned the statement outlined by the economy Minister yesterday and presented to the Senedd today. I read that report, and I found it deeply disappointing from a creative industries perspective. As you know, the arts and sport have been added to the economy brief, at least in part to recognise the vital contribution that they make to the economy in Wales. You have been made the Deputy Minister responsible for these areas, and yet the arts and creative industries were not mentioned once in that statement. So, do you agree that that is a real missed opportunity to deliver a vibrant sector in the future, and that the creative industries should take a more prominent role in this Government's strategic priorities?

Can I thank the Member for those comments and those questions? I think that there are several things to deal with there. I think that if we start with the COVID restrictions and the issue of COVID passes and the support that was given by the Welsh Government to the cultural sector, I think that we need to recognise that £93 million was made available to the cultural sector through the cultural recovery fund, and that helped countless numbers of organisations and individuals, including and up to freelancers—support that actually wasn't available in England. So, I think that we should acknowledge that as well.

Yes, COVID restrictions were different here in Wales, but that is the nature of devolution. We have rehearsed that many times in terms of the different approaches taken to COVID, and how we would protect our citizens against COVID in each of the four nations. So, I don't think that we need to spend too much further time debating that.

Where I would take issue with you is that we have not adequately supported the music industry. We would have always wanted to do more; of course, we would have always wanted to do more. But, the music industry was covered by COVID restrictions to a greater degree than some of the other industries because of the nature of playing musical instruments and singing and so on. So, again, that is a restriction within that industry that has been rehearsed time and time again. We have engaged very closely with the music industry throughout that process, working closely with the music industry and venues so that they understood the process.

But, I think that it is worth pointing out that there have been a number of initiatives for the music industry in terms of skills. We set up £60,000 of funding for the music project Beacons. We had the Honey Sessions, which were a series of industry support sessions for young creators working in the music of black origin genres across Wales. We had Crwth, a new music industry magazine designed by young music industry creators from across Wales. We had the noticeboard, which publicises opportunities across Wales for young music industry personnel. We have the Future Disrupter, which is a spotlight on emerging industry personnel in Wales. Beacons have also agreed new partnerships with Gower College, Coleg y Cymoedd and the University of South Wales, and have recruited two new Kickstart placements, who will join Beacons for six months to learn about the industry and help deliver additional resources. So, it's clear that we have done work in all of the sectors.

But, you also asked about the skills demand. Yes, the skills demand has been long known, but it has accelerated over the last 18 months or so. What we have seen is that we have a creative skills industry in Wales—a creative skills hub, a production hub—that is the third largest in the UK outside of Manchester and London. So, it's very self-evident to me that that, in itself, shows that the creative skills industry and the production industry, in particular, is very confident in Wales—the fact that it has made Wales, as I say, its third largest creative hub.

So, we have to develop our own skills, and that's what we intend to do with the creative skills board. We are working very closely with the creative industries to establish and identify the appropriate levels of skills that are needed to be able to support the productions that we bring to Wales. We will continue to do that.

In terms of strategies to engage schools, well, of course, I already outlined in my statement that we have introduced this into the national curriculum. We work very closely again with all of our schools and colleges to link in with creative organisations who do a lot of work in schools and spend a lot of time talking to pupils in schools, and one of the things we want to develop is talking to them about how they can look at creative skills as being a potential career choice for them. I already talked in my statement as well about the skills survey that we’re undertaking, both in the music industry and in the creative industries to identify those developing skills that we need as well.

So, I think, in terms of the economy, you’re quite right to point out that, in this term of government, the fact that arts, culture and sports sit within the economy department is a very welcome development. It shows very clearly where Welsh Government sees arts, sports and culture as part of the economy brief. We very much see it as an integral part of what we need to do to develop our economic recovery. And whatever the economy Minister mentioned yesterday, he made it very clear that skills and apprenticeships are integral to that, and the skills offer that I've talked about today, and how that links in with the apprenticeship offer, is very much part of that manifesto commitment. It was in the programme for government that the economy Minister referred to yesterday.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Heledd Fychan.

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to hear the Deputy Minister emphasising the importance of the creative industries, and her commitment to providing support for more people in Wales to work in the related sectors.

I also very much welcome the specific statement regarding diversity, and ensuring that there are more opportunities for people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities to work in the film and television sector. If we wish to ensure that content reflects Wales in its entirety, then it is vital that the workforce does exactly that too. I would therefore like to ask how this will also be supported in the other creative industries beyond television and film, and whether the pilot aims to help shape a plan with a longer term focus in this regard.

In considering the creative industries as a whole, I would also like to raise the issue of gender and ensuring that the workforce is representative of our society in that regard as well. If we look, for example, at the gaming industry, research from the University of Sheffield suggests that 70 per cent of employees in the gaming industry in the United Kingdom are men. Coupled with the fact that only 12 per cent of students in Welsh universities studying engineering and technology were women in 2016, this is unlikely to change without a specific strategy. So, does the Welsh Government, through Creative Wales, have a plan to ensure that the creative industries workforce is fully representative, with equal opportunities and encouragement for women and men?

We must also remember, of course, that a high percentage of the people working in the creative industries, specifically film and television, do so as freelancers. As research has shown, 94 per cent of freelancers have lost work as a result of COVID, and with the end of furlough and the end of the second cultural recovery fund, if we look at the creative industries as a whole, it is a very precarious situation for many of them.

I know that Creative Wales is not involved in theatres, but with regard to the Welsh Government, there is a need to look at the creative and cultural sector in its entirety in terms of skills and jobs and support, and I would therefore like to take this opportunity to ask the Deputy Minister whether there is any intention to develop a third cultural recovery fund to support the arts centres that face such an uncertain future.

One of the skills that isn't mentioned in today's statement is the Welsh language, which, of course, belongs to everyone in Wales. How will Creative Wales ensure opportunities for people to work in these industries through the medium of Welsh, and in communities across Wales? Where is the Welsh language in these plans and where is support for those who don't speak Welsh and learners to develop their Welsh language skills so that they can use them in the creative industries?

You also emphasise in your statement the increase in production within the screen sector, which is good to hear, and as has already been noted, in terms of Clwstwr's second report on the creative industries, south Wales is the media cluster that has been performing best outside London. But despite this, in terms of the Cardiff capital region, this is still lower in terms of productivity than the average across the United Kingdom. So, what plans do Creative Wales and the Welsh Government have to ensure that productivity increases over the coming years, increasing the number of jobs available and helping to develop Wales's economy?

And, as Tom Giffard mentioned, finally, in Clwstwr's 'Screen Census 2020' report, it was noted that it isn't a lack of talent that is holding the screen industry back, rather it is a lack of a clear skills strategy that would deliver that talent pipeline from Wales. Whilst the steps outlined in the statement are a step forward for the film and television sector, and, indeed, music, do you intend to draw up a skills strategy for all creative industries, and if so, what is the timescale for such a strategy?

Government support for the creative industries, as outlined today, is without doubt to be encouraged, but we must also have a strategy and we must be ambitious if we are to maximise this industry's potential in terms of our economy, and if we are to ensure that everyone in Wales, from all backgrounds, all genders, and wherever they live, have the opportunity to benefit fully from the opportunities provided.

Can I thank Heledd Fychan for those comments and questions? And I think she and I are very much on the same page. We set out the programme for government, and our programme for government was very clear that inclusion, diversity, equality—whether that's gender, whether that's in our BAME communities, whether it's people with disabilities, whatever that is, our inclusion agenda covers all of them, and so we are absolutely committed. Our diversity agenda is not just about BAME communities; it is about all areas where we need to do more work.

And the point you're making about the gaming industry, we see many areas where men still seem to dominate. It seems to be something that we struggle to get women involved in in certain areas, and that includes sporting areas as well. You'll know that I'm a huge football fan, and I would have given my eye teeth as a child to have been able to have played football, but, unfortunately, I was only ever taken to watch on the terraces, because it's men who played football. Now, that's changed. That's changed such a lot now. I mean, actually, the fastest growing number of people involved in football in Wales is girls—women and girls. So, it can be done, and it has to be done, and that's certainly part of our objective. Because, as you quite rightly say, the diversity that we have in all of our sectors, in all of our cultural sectors and in all forms of life, has to reflect society in Wales and not just the dominant traits in those particular industries.

I would say, in terms of freelancers, through the process of COVID we identified that freelancers was an area initially that had fallen through the gaps. We plugged that gap, we did ensure that freelancers were supported in a way that they weren't supported in other parts of the UK. And we have seen skills initiatives with freelancers as well. We've got a scheme called Step Across, which is a transferable skills project, designed to match freelancers from theatres and events to roles in the screen sector. So, we've tried to do work with those. We've got a scheme called Stepping Up 2021, which is a partnership with a UK-wide body, actually, ScreenSkills, to provide opportunities for freelancers ready to take their next move into a new job or role. We've got the return to work for creative workers, which was a union-led training scheme. It was led by the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union, in fact, where they provide training for over 200 freelancers from music, digital and screen sectors across Wales, many of whom were without work during lockdown. So, it's not that they have been forgotten; they're far from being forgotten. In fact, we've now got the freelancers pledge that you'll be aware of as well.

In terms of where we go with continued support in the creative sectors, the COVID recovery fund 3, this is something that I continue to have conversations with my colleague Vaughan Gething, the economy Minister, about in terms of the overall level of support that we can continue to offer for all businesses in light of the ongoing COVID pandemic situation. So, I'm not in a position to tell you what that is today, but I can assure you that it is a continuing discussion that we have around that.

And I take your point in terms of the Welsh language. Again, the Welsh language commitments and requirements run through our manifesto and are set out in everything that we want to do. I will take on board the comments that you've made about that being more explicit, perhaps, in some of our schemes than they otherwise are, but they are well intentioned and they certainly will be in there. I think that covered most of the things that you raised, Heledd. Thank you.

And lastly, Rhianon Passmore.

Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you, Deputy Minister, for your statement, which I welcome. I note that you rightly stated that the pandemic affected our creative industries in differing ways, with the differing music sectors very hard hit with extended venue closures, music practices closing, choirs, bands and orchestras in hibernation, and some no longer with us from this dreadful pandemic. As Members know, I believe that we as a nation, as a country, cannot separate our identity from our cultural past, our cultural legacy and that vibrant cultural future intrinsically linked to our gross domestic product. Music, our music education system and the performers of music in and across the diversity of Welsh society are key to that identity, our soul and our well-being. As such, I do greatly appreciate, Deputy Minister, the commitment of the Welsh Government to work with the University of South Wales to map the music sectors of Wales and the creation of the creative skills body, and further clarity on that, I know, the Deputy Minister will bring to this place. I do feel that that phoenix, the dragon—

Can you come to a question, please?

—is rising. Key to that will be a vibrant music education with tuition hub infrastructure across Wales. Minister, when will the national music service concept be realised, as per our manifesto? When will a national music strategy of Wales—part of that cultural strategy—be articulated within Creative Wales, and how will you use the creative skills body to develop that pathway from the classroom to those music venues of Wales, so that our children today fulfil their potential based on an ability to play and not pay?

Thank you, Rhianon. You've been such an amazing advocate for the music services throughout your time in this place, and I thank you for your ongoing support for the work that the Welsh Government is doing to try to establish a national music service. I can assure you that those discussions are well advanced. I meet with my colleague the Minister for education on a regular basis. We, in fact, only met just last week to discuss the latest iterations of our options around what the national music service might look like. Because you're absolutely right; we set that our very clearly in our manifesto—the fact that access to music, whether that is through playing an instrument, whether it is being in a choir, whether it is an orchestra or a band, should not be limited by someone's ability to pay. That is very much at the forefront of the discussions that we have about the creation of a music education service. At this stage, I can't tell you exactly when that will be agreed and signed off, but I can tell you it is well advanced. And given that we are still in the first six months of a five-year term, I'm pleased that we have made significant progress towards that.

Similarly, with the cultural strategy—I know that you've raised this before, as has Heledd Fychan—we have committed to a cultural strategy, which will include music, will include the creative industries and will include everything that is in the cultural brief. That will start its work in earnest in the new year, and we will be looking for that to be developed and to present it to this Senedd. From my perspective, it will be more than a document with a few lines about what our ambitions might be. It will be a document that has to be a living document, not just for now and not just for this term, but taking us forward so that it becomes very much part of our life in Wales. Because, in Wales, our life is based around our culture, and that will be reflected in any cultural strategy.

Thank you, Deputy Minister.

We'll move on. In accordance with Standing Order 12.24, unless a Member objects, the two motions under items 7 and 8—the heritage partnership agreements (Wales) regulations 2021—will be grouped for debate but with separate votes.

No-one's objecting. Thank you very much.