Members may be aware of the publication last Friday of the PWC review of the implementation of the theatre for young people strategy. This report, commissioned by the Arst Council, notes many major weaknesses in how this process was managed and makes a number of specific recommendations. Once again, the Council has accepted the conclusions that were drawn and has already taken steps to start to put things right. By making public this report, the Arts Council is demonstrating its appreciation of the need to be more open than has previously been the case. The Arts Council recognises its own weaknesses and the need to tackle them.
Nobody doubts the increasingly important impact of arts and culture on our society.
The Assembly should ensure that the strategy that underpins such developments is appropriately supported and is delivered effectively. There have been difficulties within the arts in Wales, but I am confident that we are now taking the necessary steps to put the arts back on a firm footing as far as public advocacy and administration are concerned. I am sure that we will have a useful, albeit brief, consideration of this matter today, and I look forward to hearing Members' views. Plaid Cymru has already welcomed the report. We are pleased to see the suggestion that the decision making process should be devolved so that communities can do what they wish rather than receive orders from Cardiff.