(Mostly) good news in Wales

The Arts Council of Wales’s (ACW) new portfolio of 71 arts organisations will receive an extra £3.7m next year, despite cuts to ACW’s overall budget. ACW’s cash from the Welsh Assembly Government is to be reduced by 4% over the next three years, and it has been asked to reduce its own running costs by 12% (see AP229). Despite this, almost all of ACW’s funded organisations will see their funding rise in 2011/12. Subject to confirmation (in February) of the Welsh Assembly Government’s draft budget, a new ACW portfolio of organisations will receive funding of just over £24m in 2011/12, an increase from £20.5m in 2010/11. Five new organisations (NoFit State, Sinfonia Cymru, Theatr Ffynnon, Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias and Independent Ballet Wales) will become part of the portfolio for the first time, sharing funding of around £670,000. More than 50 of the portfolio organisations will receive more funding in 2011/12, including an uplift of more than £100,000 each for Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mostyn, Music Theatre Wales and National Dance Company Wales. National Theatre Wales will receive the largest increase, of more than £300,000, and Welsh National Opera gets an extra £250,000.

However, the funding increases are for 2011/12 only, and with Assembly elections in Wales set for 5 May 2011, no announcements of longer-term funding are being made yet. Dai Smith, Chair of ACW, has warned that: “tough times lie ahead. At a time when public funds are under unprecedented pressure, no-one in the publicly funded arts can take public support for granted.” As announced in June (AP221), a number of arts organisations that were previously funded by ACW have lost their grants completely. These include Audiences Wales, Creu Cymru, the Drama Association of Wales and Voluntary Arts Wales. ACW said in June that it would no longer fund Welsh Independent Dance, and the company has now announced that it cannot make up the shortfall, and will have to close by the end of the 2010/11 financial year. Some arts organisations will remain in the portfolio but with less funding than in previous years: Music Centre Wales (Ty Cerdd) will have its funding cut by £44,000, although it still receives more than £300,000, and St. David’s Hall and Swansea Grand Theatre lose £18,000 and £22,000 respectively.

Hijinx Theatre, which creates plays for adults with learning disabilities and their communities, is to lose £74,000 of its current £234,000, a move the company has describe as “devastating”. Of the five organisations on reduced funding, it is the only producing company. A spokesperson for Hijinx told AP: “We were told in June at the culmination of ACW’s Investment Review that it was no longer prepared to support our touring shows for community audiences. We asked on several occasions what level of cut, either in cash or percentage terms, we were looking at. We were constantly told they had no idea. It will be impossible to replace this. Yesterday’s news is devastating.” She reiterated that Hijinx is committed to “making theatre available to as many people as possible where ever they are. Often this is outside mainstream venues. We feel our audiences are being betrayed.” She was also critical of ACW’s decision-making processes: “Following the meeting we were asked to put in a standstill budget to support activity, so felt it had listened and understood. Clearly it had not… ACW doesn’t seem to be listening to audiences just its own internal debate.” Dai Smith admitted that “we’ve had to make many difficult choices”, but said that ACW will continue to look for development opportunities for community and voluntary groups, and will back regeneration initiatives that promote employment across the creative industries in Wales.