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SPECULATION is mounting that further Welsh quangos are being lined up for the chop following Rhodri Morgan's announcement last week that three of the biggest are to be scrapped. The First Minister said the Welsh Development Agency, the Wales Tourist Board and the post-16 education and training body, Elwa, will be brought under the direct control of the Welsh Assembly Government by spring 2006. Sources are now suggesting that publicly-funded bodies operating in the cultural field could be in the next tranche of organisations brought directly under the Assembly Government's control. While the bodies themselves are reluctant to make any public statement on the issue, speculation among staff is in some cases reaching fever pitch. Four specific bodies were mentioned yesterday as possible candidates for being brought "in house" - the Arts Council of Wales, National Museums and Galleries of Wales, the National Library of Wales and the Welsh Books Council. It is understood that Assembly Culture Minister Alun Pugh is to meet Geraint Talfan Davies and Peter Tyndall, respectively the chairman and chief executive of the Arts Council, next Thursday, although the body refused to issue a statement. A spokeswoman for the National Library said, "Our council members were informed in their regular meeting last Friday (of the changes announced by Rhodri Morgan). They are aware of the issues. Meetings will be taking place involving senior staff of the library and the Assembly." A spokesman for the National Museums and Galleries of Wales said, "It would be inappropriate for us to comment." A spokesman for the Welsh Books Council was also unable to comment. Staff within some of the organisations, who spoke to The Western Mail on condition that they were not named, said the uncertainty over their bodies' future was causing havoc and having a serious impact on morale. One said, "This is not a nice place to be working at the moment. Some people are talking about how much money they will get if they are made redundant and others are wondering whether they want to work in the Civil Service. "The Assembly Government should clear the air as quickly as possible." Several staff members suggested it would not be as easy to bring the cultural organisations under the Assembly's direct wing as it had been with the three bodies last week. An employee of the National Museums and Galleries said, "We have a Royal Charter and charitable status. The Government of Wales Act states specifically that the National Assembly does not have the power to just take us over. "To bring us under the Assembly would require an Order of the Privy Council. There's no doubt the Assembly Government could get such an Order if it wanted one, but there could also be problems because of our charitable status." Last year the National Museums and Galleries received grant in aid from the Assembly of £17.85m. The National Library, based at Aberystwyth since 1907 and also with a Royal Charter, received grant-in-aid from the Assembly of just over £8m. The Arts Council is answerable both to the Assembly Government, on whose behalf it distributes arts funding in Wales, and to Parliament through Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell for the National Lottery proceeds that are allocated to arts in Wales. Its total budget last year was £34.27m. The Welsh Books Council, established in 1961, is not technically an Assembly-sponsored public body, but a national organisation with charitable status funded by the Assembly Government. Last year it received grant-in-aid totalling £2.8m. |
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Friday, July 23, 2004 |
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