The Welsh production business has had a tough time recently. But there was goods news this week when Lesley Griffiths, Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills in Wales, unveiled a £4.5m EU-backed programme to ensure workers in the Creative Industries across West Wales and the Valleys have the skills to build an enterprising sector.

Skillset Cymru, the Welsh arm of Skillset, will spearhead the Skills in the Digital Economy programme, which is designed to address the skills needs of the Creative Media Industry over the next four years. The training programme is backed with £2.7m from the European Social Fund through the Welsh Assembly Government, with the rest of the funds provided by Welsh broadcaster S4C, the trade association for independent producers in film and television in Wales, Teledwyr Annibynnol Cymru (TAC) and Skillset Cymru.

According to Griffiths: “A workforce with the relevant high level skills is essential to drive forward the performance and productivity of this diverse sector and ensure that Wales can derive the maximum economic and cultural benefits. The Welsh Assembly Government’;s Delivering a Digital Wales strategy highlights the importance of capitalising on the opportunities of the digital age and outlines our commitment to help train people in specialist skills and technologies.”

Skills in the Digital Economy will carry out research to identify current and future skills needs for the sector in the target region. Director of Skillset Cymru, Gwawr Hughes, said: “This programme is going to be an extremely important driver for the ongoing development and success of the Creative Media Industries in Wales. There will be support on all aspects of the sector including management, technical and craft skills. Our aim is to improve learning provision and help workers and enterprises to upskill and adapt to new forms of work organisation and new technologies.”