6. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, and Chief Whip: Creative Wales' skills priorities for the creative industries

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:26 pm on 19 October 2021.

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Photo of Dawn Bowden Dawn Bowden Labour 5:26, 19 October 2021

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.