The Committee is considering the impact of the UK’s exit from the EU on the culture sector and would like to understand your views on the following:

1. The impact of the new relationship on artists and creative workers touring and working cross-border (including touring and working in Wales).

It has become a nightmare. It is costly, lacks any clarity on what is really possible and there is no proper funding to do this.

2. The impact of new trading arrangements relating to cultural activity.

3. The availability of guidance and support for the sector relating to the new relationship between the UK and EU

There is little knowledge of what is available for what we need and it seems little interest on both sides to provide this. As a small company with very limited resources this has meant we have had to scale back any ideas of collaboration in the EU.

4. The impact on access to funding programmes and networks

We have been part of a series of international collaborative dance projects since 2014. In 2018/20 we were a main partner in the project which received small cooperative Creative Europe grant.

Following this, we once again were part of the next iteration but on a much larger scale and were part of the partnership that submitted for a large scale Creative Europe grant of 2million Euros with 300,000Euros coming to us as a partner in Wales which would have provided match funding for the four year project with most activities happening in Wales. As a collective we submitted twice before the UK was no longer an eligible partner both were not successful.

The collective decided to try one more time with Jones the Dance as a subcontractor. The application was approved and the project was awarded 2million Euros. However, since the initial approval the commission has pushed back on our inclusion in the project and have categorically stated that we will not be able to receive any funds from the grant. This has partly been due to us not have secure match funding and CE taking a hard view on this to the officers in CE stating that any organisation from the UK and any activity is not going to be approved.

The impact of this on our small project funded company is huge and the implications for the dance sector in Wales which has been systematically underfunded in Wales are devastating. We would have been able to engage and provide well paid employment to two permanent members of staff for four years, engage scored of freelancers over the fours and been part of world’s first digital encyclopedia in dance which would see the work and research of Welsh and Wales based contemporary dance on a platform with leading artists from across Europe. The potential economic and academic legacy for our small art form in Wales would have been beyond significant.

We have been trying to look at possible ways to run alongside the EU project but with funding in Wales becoming more and more competitive and limited this is looking even more devastating and unlikely.

Additionally not receiving this funding from CE will have a long term impact on our own viability to continue in Wales. It would have given us a secure source of match funding from which to level multi-year core funding. Without this it is now increasingly difficult and more likely that we will have to cease our work.

5. Any changes to the UK-EU relationship that might improve cross-border working for the culture sector