Wales

The Welsh government has accepted the majority of recommendations from a report into the role of its conservation service Cadw but has repeatedly warned that some have “financial implications” that would be “challenging to deliver in the current financial climate”.

In the government’s official response, Cabinet Secretary Lesley Griffiths welcomed the recommendations as “helpful and supportive” in intention and pledged to begin work to implement those that could be taken forward short term, “taking account of the difficult budgetary environment, which is unlikely to improve in the near future”.

Commissioned in December 2022, the review was set up to examine the success of a 2017 decision for Cadw to remain as an internal agency in the Welsh government, while benefiting from increased operational and commercial freedoms.

Led by Roger Lewis and published last year, the report made 29 recommendations grouped into six themes, including clarifying the role of the Cadw board and modifying how Welsh government processes and procedures apply to Cadw, particularly regarding HR.

The report called for changes in senior roles, including the reinstatement of an Additional Accounting Officer - suspended early in the pandemic - to be held by the Head of Cadw, whose title would change to Chief Executive Officer.

Griffiths supported the recommendation and the report's call for a specific budget to be set up in addition to Cadw’s existing funding to advance the proposals, including the hiring of more staff, but added that the plan needed to be “fully costed and affordable” given the “challenging financial context we are currently operating in”.

The recommendations also call for a closer relationship between the board and government, including holding twice yearly meetings with the Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and redefining the board’s role as “more strategic” and “advisory”, which Grithiss accepted in “in principle”.

Issues surrounding the recruitment, promotion and retention of Cadw staff and the ability to appoint emergency cover were also highlighted, with the report noting that many employees are “hands-on, technical craftspeople who have very little in common with the wider civil-service ways of working”.

Griffiths recognised that civil service processes and procedures “can be seen as a barrier” to working in “an efficient and timely manner” and may “appear to restrict the flexible and agile way in which Cadw needs to operate”.

However, she added that senior government officials would need to consider these recommendations further as Cadw must “act responsibly” and “be able to demonstrate value for public money”. 

“It is important the civil service principles around equality, fair and open processes are retained, underpinned by Welsh government values of creativity, fairness, partnership and professionalism,” she said.

Responding to the suggestion to establish a Welsh school of heritage and conservation skills, Griffiths said she could “see the merit” but that, “given current financial constraints,” it was “unlikely to be achievable in the short term without significant external partnership funding.” 

Elsewhere, the Culture Minister said she was “not convinced” that a separate cultural tourism strategy is currently necessary beyond the Culture Strategy for Wales that the government is currently consulting on or that Cadw should be allowed greater freedoms and flexibility in “all aspects of the press, PR, marketing and website activities of Cadw”.

Speaking about a recommendation that Cadw should embrace the Welsh government’s Economic Action Plan, in part by selling Welsh products in its shops and promoting Welsh companies to run the cafes at sites, Griffiths cautioned she was “mindful this has to be undertaken in the context of procurement rules and obtaining best value for public money”.

She added there could be merit in investigating the creation of a standalone, arm's-length charity that could benefit Cadw by applying for grants and receiving bequests and confirmed that an audit and review of access to Cadw sites for disabled people would be conducted.

Welsh actor Michael Sheen and his fellow countrymen, The Manic Street Preachers, have renewed their backing of an arts education fund launched three years ago to help pay for the education of aspiring actors.

Over the last three years, the Mab Gwalia Welsh drama student scholarship has supported 11 actors, funding their training with up to £15,000 each academic year.

Speaking about plans to renew the scheme for another three years, Sheen said: "We’re in the midst of an arts emergency in Wales. Cuts are taking away tongues at the very moment our stories need to be shouted loudest."

"Mab Gwalia has emerged to provide support to give tomorrow’s talent a platform and pathway to develop their craft and tell our truth to the world. But the door is open to others with shared values who can contribute financially to the fund."

Performers' union Equirty has voiced its opposition to Welsh National Opera's (WNO) plans to cut the salary of its chorus members and threaten compulsory redundancy.

WNO, which has warned of financial difficulties after having its core funding cut, plans to reduce the full-time contracts of its chorus members to 45 weeks with a salary cut of at least 15% a year.

Equity says that recent “opaque proposals” for changes to its members' terms and conditions have been tabled, which would “fundamentally undermine the job security of this highly skilled professional ensemble.” 

The changes mirror those put forward for the orchestra at WNO and follow contract renegotiations for the chorus and orchestra at English National Opera earlier this year.

The union said it has “always been open to the [negotiation] process” and “believed that despite the challenging financial situation the company faced, [WNO] would protect the chorus.” 

“[We] will not accept compulsory redundancies or the desire of WNO management to make contracts ‘flexible’ solely to their own advantage while adding the precarity of an unsustainable cut to chorus members’ basic earnings,” said the union.

“ Equity’s resistance to the current proposals cannot, and will not, be contingent on the decisions of funders.” 

WNO receives National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) funding from both Arts Council England (ACE) and Arts Council Wales (ACW), but its ACE funding was reduced from £6.24m to £4m a year for the 2023-26 period, a 35% reduction, while it receives £4.1m a year from ACW.

Last June, an open letter from former members of the opera warned that a strategic review would reduce the number of full-time orchestra and chorus members to meet funding conditions imposed by ACE.

A theatre in Wales has said it hopes to become a destination for food, drink, and culture after announcing that an award-winning chef will open a restaurant at the venue.

Theatr Clwyd said Bryn Williams, a Michelin award-winning chef and restauranteur, will open a restaurant at the venue next year following the completion of a redevelopment project.

Liam Evans-Ford, Theatr Clwyd’s Executive Director, said, “We are deeply excited to be working in partnership with Bryn on our food and drink offer at Theatr Clwyd, including restaurants, bars, and all our event and retail spaces. 

"We always aim to work with people who are world-class at what they do, who share our values, and who have strong links to our locality. Bryn delivers on all these, and we look forward to working with him to make Theatr Clwyd known as a food and drink destination, as well a venue for world-class culture and communities work.”

Williams said, “I am thrilled to be returning home to my native Wales to work in partnership with Theatr Clwyd, an organisation I have known and loved since I was a child growing up locally."