Media: S4C

Lord Wigley Excerpts

Wednesday 5th October 2011 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Wigley]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they held with governors or executives of the BBC during July and August in relation to the future of the S4C channel.

[Baroness Rawlings]

My Lords, I know and understand the conviction and intense interest that the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, and other noble Lords have in S4C. Officials in DCMS held discussions with the BBC in July and August regarding the future of S4C, and those discussions are continuing—as the noble Lord will be aware from all this summer’s Written Questions.

[Lord Wigley]

My Lords, as the Secretary of State has recently laid an amendment to the BBC framework agreements stating that after 2015 it will be a matter for the BBC to determine how much funding it will give to S4C from the licence fee, and as the Government have also recently tabled an amendment to the Public Bodies Bill putting responsibility on to the Secretary of State to ensure that S4C is adequately funded after 2015, will the Minister confirm that after 2015 the Government will determine year-on-year how much funding S4C needs and will make up any shortfall in the money provided by the BBC?

[Baroness Rawlings]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, wrote to the Secretary of State on 14 September on these and similar points. As the noble Lord knows, the next Committee sitting on the Public Bodies Bill in the other place will be on 11 October, and that will cover S4C. We understand and appreciate the noble Lord’s concerns about the financial provisions of S4C and its ministerial independence. I can reassure him that following the government amendment in the other place which he mentioned, the Bill now places a duty on the Secretary of State to make certain that S4C is funded at a level sufficient to meet its statutory remit. This provision will provide security for S4C’s long-term future.