Wales faces likely 5% cuts

Revenue funded organisations in Wales should prepare themselves for 5% year on year cuts, according to an interim report, ‘Taking Stock’, from the Arts Council of Wales (ACW). The report is informed by a briefing from the Wales Audit Office, which flags up a likely “real terms reduction of £0.5bn a year” in public services in Wales. ‘Taking Stock’ gives a progress report on ACW’s assessment of 116 business plans submitted by arts organisations in response to ACW’s vision statement ‘Imagine’, and effectively puts the kibosh on the 42% increase requested collectively by the arts organisations themselves. In a candid evaluation of the business plans, ACW praised some as “brave, creative and intelligent” and criticised others as “frankly disappointing” and “exercises in self-promotion”. The report also reaffirmed ACW’s commitment to providing an adequate level of funding to those organisations that emerge successfully from the investment review process.