Diolch, Ddirprwy Weinidog. In the words of Raymond Williams, culture is ordinary and I know, Deputy Minister, that you and I share a common belief that there should be equity of access to cultural participation. Whilst we have seen some brilliant and innovative digital cultural projects emerge as a result of the pandemic, research has shown that the shift to digital cultural experiences over the pandemic period failed to diversify cultural audiences, largely only engaging those already engaged in cultural activities. Further, women and ethnic minorities saw larger reductions in hours in terms of participation during the pandemic compared to their white and male counterparts.

Whilst digital innovation undoubtedly has a role to play in making a positive difference, this only works when embedded in a long-term strategy of audience and school engagement. What steps are being taken by Welsh Government to determine what lessons were learnt about widening engagement through the digital cultural activities they funded during the pandemic, and how do you plan to ensure that more is done to ensure equity of opportunity to participation in culture?