BBC Royal Charter

Lord Morris of Aberavon Excerpts

Thursday 4th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Morris of Aberavon (Lab)]

My Lords—

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston) (Con)]

My Lords, the House seems to be calling for the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, but we have plenty of time and we have not heard from the Liberal Democrat Benches either. I suggest that we hear first from the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, and then move to the Liberal Democrats.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

My Lords, I very much agree with the noble Baroness’s point about the power and importance of the creative industries, and of course the BBC plays a huge part in that, not least around the world because of the respect that it is accorded.

[Lord Morris of Aberavon]

My Lords, are there plans to consult on the BBC’s partial funding of the Welsh television channel S4C?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

My Lords, the Government are committed to strong Welsh language broadcasting, although the funding arrangements for the future are clearly for the charter review. I am sure they will be looked at in that context. It is really important to safeguard Welsh language broadcasting. When I was on maternity leave, I was a big fan of “Pobol y Cwm”, which you can get in the south-west, where I was spending some time.