Arts and culture sectors get share of extra £4.4m from Welsh government

The Welsh Government is to provide an extra £4.4m a year to support the arts, culture and publishing sectors in Wales.

The new funding, which is included in the government’s final budget for 2025-26, on top of increases already announced in the draft budget, represents an 8.5% increase for the sector on last year’s revenue budget.

It also comes in addition to the £73.8m allocated for capital projects to help to protect and preserve the nation’s cultural assets and improve visitor experiences and access.

The funding provided this year is an £18.4m increase on 2024-25 levels, a year that saw significant cuts for culture funding in Wales.

The announcement comes after a Senedd report published in January found that the Welsh culture sector receives the second-lowest investment per capita in culture out of all European nations.  

The Labour-led government came under pressure earlier this month when the National Museum Cardiff was forced to close temporarily for urgent mechanical repairs.

The member of the Senedd for South Wales Central, Heledd Fychan, said at the time that there had been “plenty of warnings, but no action from Labour” on the challenges caused by insufficient funding. The national museum has since reopened.

Announcing the additional funding, culture minister Jack Sargeant said: "This significant extra investment demonstrates our commitment to Wales' cultural and arts sectors.

“We are under no illusions about the challenges faced by many of our museums, theatres and cultural spaces and this budget is a significant step forward from the position we were in last year, providing a real opportunity to move towards a more secure, sustainable footing and to continue that into the future.

“Thanks to a real appetite from across the Welsh Government cabinet to do all we can, I’m really pleased to have been able to take this significant step to provide support to our cherished arts, publishing and cultural bodies.

“Our capital spending to help protect and future-proof Wales’ cultural and heritage assets is now more than three times what it was a decade ago. This includes supporting projects like the redevelopment of Caerphilly Castle, the extensive refurbishment of Theatr Clwyd and the Museum of Wrexham.

“This comprehensive funding package will help protect and preserve Wales' cultural, arts, publishing and grass-root sports while supporting their crucial role in education, community engagement and tourism.”

The latest commitment builds on the £1m of additional in-year funding provided to the sector at the tail end of 2024-25, which supported 60 cultural organisations across Wales through the Arts Council of Wales, as well as the £5m in-year funding boost announced in September, which included £940,000 for Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales.