Welsh government unveils extra £4.4m for arts, culture and publishing

The Welsh government has announced an additional £4.4m to support the arts, culture and publishing sectors in 2025-2026.

The extra funding brings the total allocation for arts, culture, heritage and sport revenue investment to £122.5m, representing a year-on-year increase of £9.4m.

When its draft budget for 2025-2026 was announced in December, the Welsh government had an additional £1.5bn to allocate compared with last year, when Welsh Minister for Finance Mark Drakeford said the cabinet “faced the most difficult settlement in the history of devolution”, resulting in “very tough choices”.

That budget imposed cuts to all departments, except health, including a 10% cut to culture.

Despite the increase, the culture sector criticised the budget for not going far enough and not fully restoring the previous year’s cuts.

Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership Jack Sargeant said the extra money represented “a real appetite” from the Welsh cabinet to “do all we can” to support “cherished” arts, publishing and cultural bodies.

“This significant extra investment demonstrates our commitment to Wales’ cultural and arts sectors,” said Sargeant.

“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.

“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 comprehensive funding package will help protect and preserve Wales’ cultural, arts, publishing and grassroot sports while supporting their crucial role in education, community engagement and tourism.”