A Plaid Cymru government will replace the current vague and non-committal ‘Priorities for Culture’ with a real and targeted cultural strategy.
We will ensure this strategy is properly funded, increasing the budget for culture, heritage, arts and sport year-on-year over the next Senedd term, and tying this to a wider shift towards preventative spending that recognises the central role of culture and sport in promoting good health and keeping people well.
Our strategy will:
- Be based on a root and branch reassessment of the challenges and opportunities facing the sector, undertaken in full collaboration and consultation with artists, cultural and heritage organisations and other relevant stakeholders.
- Promote the creative industries as a key driver of growth, innovation and opportunity in the Welsh economy, and as a provider of well-paid, good quality jobs and training.
- Use public commissioning and procurement more strategically to back Welsh artists, creatives and makers.
- Centre the arts, culture and sport as fundamental to promoting individual and community well-being, active and healthy lifestyles and better outcomes for physical and mental health.
- Prioritise equality of access to the arts, culture and sport for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities and embed cultural opportunities in schools and local communities.
- Ensure that our cultural tourism offer is central to how we promote Wales to the world, support the continued development of the National Contemporary Art Gallery for Wales and progress plans for an ‘anchor home’ that strengthens Wales’s capacity to host major exhibitions and partnerships.
We will review the role and fitness for purpose of public bodies like Creative Wales, the Arts Council of Wales, Cadw and Visit Wales to support the delivery of this new strategy.
We will support a single, annual cultural heritage events calendar for Wales to help residents and tourists engage with the full offer of museums, heritage sites and festivals.
We will examine options for making cultural provision a statutory requirement for public bodies, including local authorities, health boards and national parks, through a new Culture Act, ensuring that culture is embedded at the heart of public life in Wales.