More health funding could be spent on culture and sport - new minister

More health funding could be spent on culture and sport, according to Wales' new culture minister.

Plaid Cymru's Heledd Fychan told BBC Politics Wales the government wanted to "work cross-portfolio" and embed arts and health programmes "within the NHS".

The newly-appointed culture and sport minister criticised the previous Welsh government for working "in silos", cutting funding to the sectors.

She said it's "not good enough" that Wales is at the bottom of league tables in terms of spending on the arts and sports.

Fychan cautioned "it's not a matter that we can transform things overnight" but she has committed to increase spending "year on year".

Plaid Cymru won the most seats in the Senedd election earlier this month, but did not achieve a majority, with leader Rhun ap Iorwerth deciding to lead a minority government.

He announced his ministerial team last week.

It is the first time Labour have not been in charge since the start of devolution in 1999.

The culture and sport portfolio has been upgraded from a deputy minister role under the last Labour-led administration to a minister role.

Fychan said this reflected the party's commitment to the sector and their intention for it to be "at the heart of government".

She said: "At the moment, arts and health programmes, they're funded by the Arts Council, and we want to ensure that they're embedded within the NHS so that you have parity of experience and opportunities wherever you live in Wales.

"It's not just about investment, it will create savings and help grow the Welsh economy."

The minister mentioned economic opportunities from the creative industries, plus the Tour de France, and football's men's Euros in 2028 coming to Wales.

"There are vital opportunities for Wales in terms of tourism as well, so we want to see sports and culture, cross-government, cross-portfolio," she added.

"It will be very much in partnership, not the siloed approach we've been seeing to date."

These are early signs of how different the Plaid Cymru administration intends to be during this Senedd term.

However, there were concerns from some industries.

Plaid Cymru have said that they want communities to own a minimum of between 15% and 25% of energy projects over 10MW and return more profit from wind and solar farms to councils.

In addition, they want to prohibit the use of large pylons for new lines, and implement a presumption in favour of placing infrastructure underground.

Director of Renewable UK Wales Jessica Hooper said there remained a risk Wales could become less competitive when attracting foreign investment in the industry because of some policies.

"We can't afford that," she said.

"This is a competitive market. We need to see Wales as at least on a level playing field and if not potentially more attractive."

Renewable UK Wales said in a report last year that the sector could be worth approximately £47bn to Wales, and "£10bn of that could flow into Welsh businesses, provided the policy environment is right".