Sunday, May 17, 2026
Promises, promises
They add that Plaid Cymru's Heledd Fychan told them that the arts, culture and heritage sector did not get adequate support from the previous Labour Welsh government.She is promising to reverse that trend and that this is "clearly a priority" for new First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth, with her being given a seat around the cabinet table to represent it:
"We can't promise huge investment overnight, but I will clearly put together a plan where we can see that increased investment year-on-year," she told Radio Wales Breakfast.
Fychan said she would put together a plan, over the next 100 days, to support a sector which she said had been "siloed and under-funded" by Labour.
She said her portfolio, which also includes sport, had a significant role to play in the well-being of people.
Heledd Fychan had a senior job at Museum Wales before becoming a Senedd member in 2021
Last year, a Senedd report, external found Wales had the second lowest spending per person on cultural services in Europe and the third lowest on recreation and sports.
The Labour Welsh government's budget for 2025-26 saw funding for culture, the arts and sport restored to 2023-24 levels.
However, that follows a period of cuts to the sector as the government prioritised frontline services including the NHS.
This is highly commendable and fully in line with what I would expect. If Fychan can achieve this ambition then she has my full support. The cynic in me, however, says that year-on-year increases in fundings for the arts is not going to be as simple as she suggests.
Plaid has only been in government for a matter of days, they haven't had time to get to grips with the nation's finances, and we are aware that things are going to be tight over the next few years. With other promises to fulfil around childcare, health and many other issues, they really are going to have to find a magic money tree.
