Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 1:52 pm on 3 November 2021.

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Photo of Dawn Bowden Dawn Bowden Labour 1:52, 3 November 2021

I thank Heledd Fychan for that question and I think her final point there was a very relevant one. You know, what we have seen in the museum sector, as in other sectors of my portfolio, is the impact of 10 years of Tory austerity, which has filtered through to local authorities and to the organisations that they have to fund.

However, what I also agree with her on is the fact that our museums are hugely important to our communities, they're important to our education service, they're important for people's mental health and well-being, and all the other aspects of the programme for government that we have published. The work of museums feeds into all of that. So, we clearly have an interest in making sure that they continue and that they thrive and that they provide the service that they have done over many years. One of the things that we're looking at is helping them to develop, for instance, their digital offer, which makes museums far more accessible to more people than have previously been. That was something that we picked up through the pandemic. 

But what you will also be aware of, of course, is that we're currently in the process of assessing what the comprehensive spending review in the UK budget meant for Wales and how that will impact on all of the bodies that we have to finance from the Welsh budget. And those discussions will be ongoing and continuing with the national museums and the trade unions within the sector to ensure that those bodies are adequately funded to do all the things that we've set out in our programme for government.