Cultural funding needed

As Wales gathered for the Eisteddfod celebration of Welsh culture and language in Pontypridd last month, creative unions called on the new first minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, to provide more cultural funding across the country.

The Bectu broadcasting, Equity performers and creative practitioners’, MU musicians’, NUJ journalists’ and WGGB writers’ unions point out that cultural spending as a proportion of the Welsh government budget is one of the lowest in Europe — less than 0.15% of the total compared to an average 1.5%.

In a letter to Morgan, they set out how Welsh arts and culture have been decimated.

The Arts Council of Wales’ budget has fallen by around 37% in real terms since 2010. And Welsh National Opera has suffered a 35% cut from Arts Council England and an almost 12% cut from Arts Council Wales.

Publishing Wales has seen a 37% real-terms cut over the past decade, and magazines Planet and New Welsh Review have closed.

Meanwhile, UK government funding for Welsh broadcaster S4C fell from £101 million in 2010 to £88.85 million in 2023-24.

A recent Bectu survey found that half of Wales’ film and TV workforce are currently out of work, with around a third planning to leave the industry altogether.

Equity national officer Simon Curtis said the sector’s survival requires “a cultural strategy which focuses on proper long-term investment and objectives”.