Arts Council of Wales to cut funding to companies

Welsh National Opera is one of the organisations currently funded by ACW

Organisations funded by the Arts Council of Wales (ACW) will see their funding cut by 2.1% next year.

It comes after the Welsh government reduced the amount of money it gives ACW by £1m.

Last week the body announced it was to set its investment strategy, which determines how it spends its budget over the next five years.

Companies will find out in December 2015 if they will continue to be funded.

'Funding squeeze'

ACW distributes annual grants to 69 organisations including Welsh National Opera, National Theatre Wales and Ballet Cymru.

The organisation said its Welsh government funding had fallen by 10% since 2010.

Since then it has sought to protect front-line activity by reducing grant investment in other development programmes and cut running costs, it said.

Professor Dai Smith, chairman of ACW, said the arts in Wales were not immune to the squeeze in public funding, but warned managing the impact of cuts would be challenging.