New funding criteria will be developed for arts organisations in Wales to provide greater flexibility and “ensure the sector doesn’t stagnate,” Welsh heritage minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas has said.

“We cannot continue to keep funding organisations on a historic basis—where those who have always received funding continue to always receive it and at exactly the same level,” the minister said in an address at the Arts Council of Wales Annual Conference.

Thomas said the Arts Council will work with his officials to examine alternative funding models.

The minister’s vision for the new criteria includes recognising excellence in overlooked sectors of the arts, such as art in community work and art involving people with disabilities.

New criteria could also include allowing artists and the public to judge merit and excellence, encouraging work of Welsh origin that achieves international recognition, giving a strong, accessible voice to people’s experiences and realities, and giving certainty of funding when long term investment is needed while not “[fossilising] funding at the expense of innovation.”

Thomas also said his department plans to look at engaging more young people in the arts through opportunities including apprenticeships at arts organisations, and that a statutory duty could be placed on local authorities to promote arts and culture.