Arts Council Wales – Written Evidence (LBC0292) All arts organisations – and many individuals – have been adversely impacted by the pandemic, some quite catastrophically. 1. The arts sector in Wales is largely made up of charities, community interest companies, social enterprises, and freelancers. Charitable organisations and individual creatives generally carry no sizeable reserves and, even when operating in normal circumstances, do not set out to make large profits. Any profit that’s made is generally re-invested back into enhancing delivery and extending the impact of arts activities. Some of our most effective and important organisations found themselves worst affected. 2. The loss of income from the closure of theatres and venues has been very serious. But current difficulties are exacerbated for those organisations (mostly venues) who achieve a high proportion of their income from ticket sales, retail income and other secondary spend. For example, under normal circumstances we applaud organisations like Chapter, Galeri in Caernarfon and Wales Millennium Centre for their success in operating with a low dependency on public funding. But with around 80% of their income coming from commercial activities, otherwise stable business models crashed overnight. 3. There’s also the potential impact on associated expenditure. The Wales Millennium Centre, for example, sustains 1,200 jobs onsite and has estimated its annual economic impact in Cardiff Bay to be around £70m per annum. Its eventual re-emergence from lock-down will almost certainly be as a ‘smaller’ organisation. The cumulative loss of income is very serious, to the organisations themselves and to the economy of Wales. 4. The Arts Council of Wales provides annual grant-in-aid support of around £27m to a nation-wide network of 67 key arts organisations – the Arts Portfolio Wales (APW). These organisations alone are losing around £1.45m a week in earned and contributed income. 5. We also provide support to many organisations outside the Arts Portfolio Wales. One of the highest profile sectors is Wales’ festivals, with many usually taking place between May and August. These include Hay, Llangollen, the National Eisteddfod and Green Man. These aren’t just important cultural organisations – they’re also part of Wales’ overall visitor and tourist economy. Covid-19 has had – and is likely to continue to have – a profound impact across the creative industries. 6. As Ffilm Cymru Wales has reported, these impacts in Wales include: the closure of all cinemas, mixed arts venues and community providers of film screenings (this includes 13 commercial sites such as Vue, Odeon and Cineworld and around 290 independent providers including mixed arts centres such as Chapter Arts Centre, Galerie Caernarfon, The Torch in Milford Haven and Pontio in Bangor) the cancellation, postponement or reimagining of film festivals – across Wales, the rest of the UK and internationally. For example, Cannes moved to an on-line only ‘virtual market’ disrupting how business takes place, whilst home-grown festivals are trialling on-line delivery, as with Cardiff Animation and Iris Festival significant disruption to distribution for films that have recently completed – including Euros Lyn’s “Dream Horse”, which told the story of a Valley’s community who raised a race-horse, and Mad As Birds’ film “Six Minutes to Midnight” with Eddie Izzard and Judi Dench. But it’s not just organisations who are struggling – many individual artists and creative freelancers have suffered an immediate loss of income. 7. Freelance artists and creators are the ultimate “gig workers”, moving from project to project to find the next pay-cheque. Often, they’re doing this without the benefit of employee protection, and without any significant savings to draw on in times of crisis. 8. Most creative freelancers have had 100% of their work cancelled. They are without income and without promise of work. The scale of the impact on jobs was reflected in Oxford Economics’ report commissioned by the Creative Industries Federation, in which Wales is projected to lose 26% (15,000) of its creative jobs and see a 10% (£100 million) drop in creative industries GVA. Part-time and freelance workers continue to be denied the protections that their employed counterparts take for granted. The UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employed Income Support Scheme have been welcome interventions. However, many fell through the gaps between these two. There is a differential impact on individuals that reinforces inherent inequalities. 9. The suspension of live performance and public cultural activity is one of the most comprehensive shocks to society’s sense of well-being, as well as to the economy. But we need also to recognise that public health crises aren’t equal opportunities events: the poorest, most marginalised and disabled are generally the worst affected, while the wealthy, connected and healthy are usually better able to weather the storm. 10.There’s also the potential for an adverse impact on the Welsh Language activity as we try to support two cultures in two languages from one budget. The COVID-induced reduction in social contact is a particular threat to Welsh language culture as it is very community based (eg: Eisteddfodau, choirs, bands, gigs). We need a proactive strategy to ensure that the pandemic doesn’t do disproportionate damage to this integral part of our culture. Working with the Welsh Government, we reallocated money from existing budgets and created a Resilience Fund for the Arts of £7.0 million (later increased to £7.5m). 11.The Welsh Government’s grant-in-aid to the Arts Council has been the vital foundation stone on which our COVID-19 emergency response strategy has been built. In April, we ‘re-purposed’ discretionary grant-in-aid funding and money from the National Lottery. We subsequently secured a further £500,000 from a private charity, the Freelands Foundation. We moved quickly to create a Resilience Fund to provide emergency support. 12.We supported 631 individuals with support totalling £2.475m and 119 organisations with support totalling £3.064m. An immediate concern at this time is solvency, or the immediate cash position and cash prospects for organisations. 13.Since every form of immediate and projected income for venues has ceased, every organisation has gone dark, hoping that the best strategy is their survival for another day. Some are improvising alternative ways of promoting their activities – live streaming, digital collaboration, online readings and podcasts. Others are making their time, talent, and physical space available for immediate community needs — field hospitals, production of PPE, food production etc. The Welsh Government has announced a Cultural Recovery Fund which it will jointly manage with the Arts Council of Wales. 14.This is a £53m fund, and the Arts Council of Wales will be responsible for distributing £27.5m of this sum. The fund is designed to help organisations stay afloat during a period of acute financial pressure due to COVID-19. We also recognise that ongoing restrictions on the resuming of activity caused by social distancing rules adds to the uncertainty. Helping to address these pressures is the central purpose of this fund. It will be especially useful in helping to replace the tapering support from the UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme. Those receiving support from this fund will be expected to sign up to the Welsh Government’s ‘Cultural Contract’. 15.The Welsh Government’s vision is of a Wales that is fair, prosperous and confident, improving the quality of life of its people in all of the country’s communities. The development of a ‘Cultural Contract’ is designed to encourage applicants to adopt new commitments that ensure that public investment is deployed with a social purpose. This will build on the Welsh Government’s existing ‘Economic Contract’ and is part of a wider strategy to find opportunities for beneficial change. The “Cultural Contract” offers an incentive to plan for a different future. 16.Long before COVID-19 struck, the Arts Council has had a clear vision for the future: a creative Wales where the arts are central to the life and well-being of the nation – a place where our best talents are revealed, nurtured and shared, and where all communities across Wales have the opportunity to enjoy and take part in the best that our artists and arts organisations can offer. This is consistent with the Welsh Government’s Well-being and Future Generations legislation. 17.In spite of the pandemic – perhaps, even, because of it – we remain impatient with the fact that too many people are still effectively denied the opportunity to enjoy, take part, or work in the arts. If we believe that the life enhancing experiences of the arts, of imaginative expression, are crucial for a healthy and dynamic society, then they should be available to all. 18.For all its grim characteristics, we mustn’t let the current crisis divert us from our bigger goal. If the arts in Wales are to be resilient, equal and diverse we must encourage strong, entrepreneurial leadership. This means building a sector that’s imaginative and innovative; one that’s intimately embedded within the community that it serves; one that focuses on its audience and adopts its business to withstand change, whether planned or unexpected. Although the COVID-19 emergency isn’t what anyone would have wished for, the coming months will reveal the organisations with the skill, the resilience and the capacity to endure in the longer-term. 19.Our task is to ensure that what survives is a viable and vibrant nation-wide network of arts organisations, from the international to the very local – organisations which celebrate the best of Wales on the world stage, and those that work at a local, community level.