Can I thank the Welsh Government for tabling this debate? I hope that the administrations in the other nations of the UK will give as warm a welcome to the final charter as the Welsh Government has. Reading statements by the Secretary of State and the Minister has been as heart-warming as opening a Hallmark Valentine’s card. We even have the Minister applauding a strong financial settlement for S4C’s future. I am tempted to ask you, ‘Who are you, and what have you done with the real Alun Davies?’ [Laughter.] What I like to think has happened, though, is a step forward in the maturity of the relationship between the two Governments. You know, let’s be a little bit generous here. On this clearly non-devolved issue, both Governments have been keen to point out how well they work together, and DCMS can, perhaps, point the way to some other Government departments in the UK about how to work with the Welsh Government and the Wales Office.

The Welsh Conservatives here in the Assembly also welcome the improvements in the draft charter and agreement. I won’t rehearse them all again. I think the re-focus on the rights of nations to fair representation, in both senses of the word, present an interesting test for the Assembly. In supporting all the Plaid amendments, I’m going to concentrate on the last of them.

The Welsh Conservatives have called for dual accountability for many years now, and we welcome the memorandum of understanding between the two Governments. But what happens next? Is there going to be a case study of the value and shape of accountability without direct responsibility? Because the Welsh Government has no direct responsibility for BBC, or any broadcaster; neither does the Assembly. Yet the UK Government has given Welsh Government the task of approving a Wales member of the new BBC board. Now, I appreciate that approving is not the same as appointing, but it effectively means a veto on appointment, and this rather looks like devolving responsibility to the Welsh Government for a decision on an accepted and soon-to-be-reserved area of competence. If so, the Welsh Conservatives, at this point, as you’ve heard, would express some enthusiasm for the idea of a confirmation hearing for that board member, allowing the Assembly to scrutinise a Welsh Government decision or, better still, actually, to be part of making that decision.

On laying reports and giving evidence to Assembly committees—just four things that I’d like you to consider, Minister. The first—and I don’t think that we’re going to disagree on this—is that, in respect of public service obligations, which inevitably cover devolved subject areas, all relevant broadcasters should give account of themselves to this Assembly. I appreciate that today is about the charter, of course, but I detect from debates in the fourth Assembly an appetite that this requirement should not be restricted to the BBC. If better regard for the nation is to be a licence requirement for the BBC, then so it should be for other public service broadcasters. Perhaps a matter for Ofcom, in due course, but I was pleased to hear Bethan confirm that there will be a Welsh member on the Ofcom board on this as well.

Secondly, the target for more production outside London, the strengthening of the nation’s public purpose to reflect the BBC’s impact and contribution to the creative economy in Wales, and the confirmation with respect to Welsh language production, of course, already speak directly to the Assembly’s accepted competence to scrutinise Welsh economic development and the Welsh language. Will the BBC be entitled to refuse to answer any questions that aren’t rigorously confined to those devolved subjects? Will we be shamed into wearing a sort of ‘reserved powers not’ around our necks if we slip over the line? I seriously hope not.

Thirdly, what happens to Assembly scrutiny reports? I’ve raised this with Bethan before. I was very pleased to see the Secretary of State, actually, refer specifically to our reports in her statement, but I think there’s still some work to be done on clarifying how our findings can carry the same weight as those of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, the culture select committee, or the appropriate Lords committee. Of course, it’s the BBC we want to scrutinise, not just BBC Wales. It is network that hasn’t reflected Wales to the rest of the UK—a fundamental failing in its public service purpose to educate, I think.

Finally, on independence. Minister, you began with this. I’m the first to cringe at the mention of any kind of political interference on this, so I do need some help with section 3 of the charter. This states that the BBC must be independent on all matters—editorial and creative decisions, the times and manner in which its output is supplied. Now, I would say that the screening times and the platforms chosen are material to any scrutiny of decisions that claim to improve the representation of Wales on network, especially with declining audience numbers. So, would questions on those subject areas, and any subsequent recommendations based on that, be considered as interference with independence as defined by the charter?

I think accountability without direct responsibility is new territory, which I look forward to exploring, but I hope that it’s not going to be a distraction from this essential point: that the BBC should represent all parts of the UK fairly, and all parts of Wales fairly. They should not fear scrutiny from any source if they’re doing things properly. Thank you.