8. Will the First Minister make a statement on future funding of the arts and culture in Wales? OQ60993

Yes. The Government will continue to work closely with the arts and culture sectors in Wales to ensure that they receive sufficient funding within our budget envelope. Details of funding for arts and culture within this financial year are set out in the final budget that this Senedd passed in March.

Thank you for that.

Starving the arts of funding impoverishes us all. Music, drama and literature bring immense riches to people's lives. Culture should not be the reserve of only people with lots of money, because poverty doesn't only hurt people in the pocket, it also saps the soul. More that 100 years ago, James Oppenheim wrote that

'Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes; / Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.'

First Minister, I wonder if I might give you this rose and if you will keep it and press it as a reminder of that vital sentiment that, no matter the pressures placed on this place or its people, the heart of Wales shall not be starved. So, First Minister, will you accept this rose? I promise there is no thorn in it. [Laughter.]

The roses I grow in my garden have plenty of thorns on them. But, look, thank you for the offer of giving me a flower. I'm not entirely sure that that would be welcomed at home—[Laughter.]

It's a yellow rose, not red.

But on your point around 'Bread and Roses', I recognise the point that's made and this Government does not want to reduce funding for our cultural institutions; we want to make sure that it is genuinely accessible in terms of what we do in trying to introduce arts and culture, across the opportunities, for young people in every community, recognising that access to arts and culture is different, in practical terms, between different communities. The challenge we have, though, is having the budget envelope that we had and prioritising health and local government and then, within my then department, making choices about wanting to put more resources into apprenticeships. It's a difficult space to be in. Our commitment is to listen to the sector, to work with them within the envelope we have. I would like to see us in a place where we can not just have a cultural strategy that we've agreed with the designated Member, but actually to be able to fund significantly in that in the future. Our current envelope doesn't allow us to do that. What we have done, though, is prioritise money for the cultural strategy, with agreement that that money will be used to try to ameliorate and avoid further job loss in the sector. And that transference of resource does show the shared commitment between the Government and Plaid Cymru in wanting to see jobs continue, wanting to see the culture sector continue. And I look forward, in the future, when I hope there will be a different budget settlement, to seeing a rebirth and a growth in what the cultural sector is able to do and the real contribution it makes to our economy and, indeed, to our society.

Thank you, First Minister.