THE Arts Council for Wales has unveiled 'housekeeping' plans aimed at broadening support and increasing funding to Welsh arts over the next five years.

But, at an official unveiling ceremony at which several references were made to cash increases for the arts, no actual figure was placed on increased spending plans.

Supporting Creativity, as the plan is called, talks of "an immediately tangible benefit in the form of an increase in funding for the arts".

In her opening remarks, Jenny Randerson, (pictured) the National Assembly's minister for culture, sport and the Welsh language, said: "We have been able to increase funding available to the arts council." No specific figure was mentioned but an increase of 35 per cent was alluded to.

In February last year ACW moved from a centralised structure to a more devolved one in which local offices take more decisions about what projects to support and how much should be spent on them.

The report takes a sideswipe at the previous Conservative government in Whitehall for forcing the ACW to manage on levels of grant aid that did not keep pace with inflation. No mention was made of the internal crisis only two years ago following which the chairman, Ebbw Vale-born Jo Weston, was fired.

One important change is in the field of literature, which will see writers' services being transferred to the Welsh Academy. In visual art and craft and also film the development of 'integrated strategies' are called for, although critics claim that an 'integrated strategy' is precisely what Supporting Creativity claims to be.

Following the report's unveiling, Glyn Davies, Conservative spokesman for the arts, called the Assembly Government's reluctance to talk figures "unsurprising", and claimed that the arts budget was being used as an electioneering tool.

He said: "I'm surprised anyone is surprised. Being able to establish what figures ministers are talking about is always difficult.

"The Assembly can't go on for ever blaming past mistakes on the previous government. Ministers seem to now be making statements about the arts. They want to use the arts as an election tool."

When asked for details of funding increases, an ACW spokesman said: "The finance people are in a meeting. "The figure of a 35 per cent increase referred to by Miss Randerson is split over three years."