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Dateline: 24th March, 2006
"I Won't Tell You!" Pugh Says Welsh culture minster Alun Pugh has refused to reveal, even to Assembly Members on the Culture Committee, who is to be the interim chair of the Arts Council of Wales when Geraint Talfan Davies leaves the post next week after his sacking by Mr Pugh. The post has not yet been advertised because any changes have been stalled by the Assembly's decision to call for a public inquiry into the role of ACW and WAG in arts funding. In a statement Mr Pugh said, "Ministers are responsible for appointing chairs of public bodies and I am responsible for appointing a chair of the Arts Council of Wales. "I will do so before 1st April and will make an announcement next week. "The appointment will be an interim arrangement - it needs to be an interim arrangement because of the review. It would not be sensible to make a permanent appointment while the review is ongoing. "The interim arrangements will be made within the terms of the National Assembly for Wales Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies." A spokesperson for his department later said that she could say no more than the minister had said in his statement. For Plaid Cymru Owen John Thomas, shadow culture spokesman, said, "Alun Pugh has decided to make a unilateral temporary appointment without any scrutiny and in defiance of proper procedure. I find it incredible that he was not prepared to name the person he is appointing, or even to say whether it is a man or a woman." Lisa Francis, for the Welsh Conservatives, added, "The fact that he is attempting to suppress details of this 'appointment' would suggest that he knows it will be far from acceptable to the arts community in Wales. This is an unholy mess and it is all of the Minister's making." Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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