On Monday, the Welsh Government announced two new projects, commissioned by Skillset Cymru, which hope to map the work of the creative industries in Wales.

In Wales, Labour’s Huw Lewis AM takes up the post as Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage.

From Monday 23rd May, craft professionals are invited to take part in a telephone survey, aimed at mapping the size and impact of the craft sector.

Arts Council Wales today announced a £500,000 investment via the Arts Lottery for a number of festivals across Wales including Hay and the Vale of Glamorgan festival.

The Old Town Hall in Merthyr Tydfil will be transformed into an arts centre after the Welsh Assembly agreed to grant £4 million towards the project.

On Thursday 3 March, voters across Wales will have the opportunity to vote in a referendum on transferring more law making powers to the National Assembly.

On Thursday, the Communities and Culture committee of the National Assembly for Wales published its report on access to the arts and culture in Wales.

The draft budget for Northern Ireland was announced on Wednesday 15 December and includes a 9.3 per cent cut to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) over four years.

The Government has published a White Paper: The Importance of Teaching which includes guidelines for the transformation of the curriculum in England and Wales.

As previewed in last week’s Bulletin, the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee held a further oral evidence session in its ongoing inquiry into arts funding on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the Welsh Assembly Government published its Draft Budget 2011-12. It was announced that as of 2011/12, ACW’s budget for arts programmes would be reduced by 4 per cent over the next three years.

A new survey published by Arts Council of Wales (ACW) reveals that, even with the recession, the arts in Wales are more popular than ever before.

As the Ryder Cup gets underway in Wales, the Deputy First Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, and Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones outlined the way forward for Wales as an events destination with the launch of Wales’ first Major Events Strategy.

This week, the Arts Council of Wales’ (ACW) announced its strategy for the renewal and transformation of the arts in Wales. It comprises, amongst other things, plans to invest in local communities, to back new talent and innovation, to create new employment opportunities and to help more young people to get involved in the arts.

The Legislation Committee No. 4 of the National Assembly for Wales has published its report on the proposed National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Culture and other fields) Order 2009. The order will allow the Assembly to make new laws for Wales (known as Assembly Measures) specifically in relation to the promotion and delivery of cultural services by local authorities across Wales.

The Executive Summary of the Arts Index is available to everyone. The full copy of the Arts Index report is only available to members of the NCA. Click here for details on how to join.

The production of the Arts Index would not have been possible without the help and support of the following organisations, to whom we are enormously grateful:

Audiences UK, Audiences London, Americans for the Arts, Arts and Business, Arts Council England, Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council Northern Ireland and The Department for Culture, Media & Sport.

Thanks too to Don Foster MP for sponsoring the launch at the House of Commons, and to Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, Shadow Culture Minister Dan Jarvis, John Nickson and Ivan Cutting for speaking.