National Theatre Wales says it wins funding appeal

National Theatre Wales has lost its multi-year Arts Council of Wales funding

National Theatre Wales says plans by the Arts Council Wales (ACW) to axe all of its funding will have to be reconsidered after it won an appeal.

Supporters had feared for the future of the organisation after its £1.6m funding was cut to nothing.

National Theatre Wales said an independent panel found the body has not followed its own procedures "fairly and transparently".

ACW said it will consider the appeal panel's deliberations later this month.

In a statement it did not confirm the company had been successful, but said only one of 15 appeals had not been rejected.

The arts body had earlier said its application for continuing funding "did not convince".

The theatre company had called for "interim" funding while a review of English-language theatre was conducted.

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In a statement Lorne Campbell, artistic director of National Theatre of Wales, said: "We have been informed that an independent panel has upheld our appeal against Arts Council Wales' decision to cut our funding by 100%. 

"The independent panel has found that Arts Council Wales has not followed its own procedures in fairly and transparently assessing our application. Our application is now referred back to the board of Arts Council Wales to be reassessed. 

"We look forward to having a constructive conversation with Arts Council Wales as soon as possible about ways forward."

He said the situation had been "very challenging for our charity and the many partners, artists and theatre-makers we work with".

The early years of the production company saw The Passion starring Michael Sheen, Mametz by Owen Sheers and a celebration of the work of Roald Dahl in Cardiff.

But it was recently criticised for losing a "meaningful connection with the artistic community in Wales".

Mr Campbell told the BBC earlier in the year that some projects had fallen "well short of what we want to achieve", but others had completely sold out.

The Arts Council of Wales said 15 appeals against the outcome of its investment review were received, and 14 were rejected "by the reviewer on grounds of eligibility or failure to demonstrate sufficient grounds for appeal".

It added: "The appeal by National Theatre Wales was referred by the reviewer to an independent appeal panel for full consideration, in line with our published appeals process.

"Council will consider the appeal panel's deliberations at their next meeting on 13 December, within the full context of the investment review as a whole."

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