Details are now being finalised of a forthcoming independent Review of the role of the Arts Council of Wales (ACW), and a consultation about funding arrangements for the countrys six national arts organisations. The Review will set out to advise Culture Minister, Alun Pugh, in relation to ACWs funding and development roles, and its role in promoting access to the arts and tackling social inequalities. The effectiveness of ACW will also be under the spotlight, in terms of its management of its revenue client portfolio and its delivery of services nationally and locally.
The Review will also consider Wales arts funding in an international context, and look at levels of arts funding and funding mechanisms elsewhere. An independent panel, which is likely to comprise five members, will be appointed as soon as the terms of reference for the Review are finalised. The Wales Association for the Performing Arts (WAPA) has welcomed the progress being made on the Review but has expressed its concern at the failure of the Assembly Government to advertise and organise a replacement for the current ACW Chair, Geraint Talfan Davies, who was told last December that his appointment in that role would not be renewed in April. WAPA is now urging the Minister to extend his period as Chair through to the completion of the Review in December 2006. Its call is being echoed by Mid and West Wales AM Lisa Francis of the Welsh Conservatives, who said, Alun Pugh has& created a mess and it is going to lead to even more instability& If he was running a business like this it would have gone bankrupt a long time ago.
Published: 27-03-2005