An independent review of the Welsh Assembly Government’s activities relating to the creative industries has warned that Wales is at “significant risk” of failing to exploit the business and economic advantages of investments in the creative industries because that investment is made primarily for cultural reasons and overseen by the Department for Heritage. The report, ‘The Heart of Digital Wales’, proposes the establishment of a Creative Industries Strategic Hub. This would be supported by a Creative Industries Strategy Board to which the Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Wales should belong, in order to “achieve cohesion… between creative industries and the arts in terms of business support, education and training.” The Board would oversee all of the Assembly Government’s creative industries work, including a proposed new Creative Industries Fund to support digital developments. Whilst there is no recommendation for Wales to merge its support for digital industries into an “ultra-converged” body like Creative Scotland, the report states that “this is a model which Wales will wish to keep under close observation”.
