Item 4, then, is a statement by the Chair of the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee, ‘The Big Picture, an Initial Look at Broadcasting in Wales’, and I call on the Chair, Bethan Jenkins.

Diolch. Ar 1 Chwefror, cyhoeddodd Pwyllgor Diwylliant, y Gymraeg a Chyfathrebu ei adroddiad, sef ‘Y Darlun Mawr’, yn nodi ein safbwyntiau cychwynnol ar ddarlledu yng Nghymru. Ym mis Medi y llynedd, yn fy natganiad cyntaf i’r Cyfarfod Llawn fel Cadeirydd y pwyllgor, dywedais y byddai’r pwyllgor yn ymroddedig i ddwyn darlledwyr a chyfryngau eraill i gyfrif. Byddai’n bwyllgor a fyddai’n sicrhau bod y cyhoedd yn cael eu gwasanaethu’n briodol gan ddarlledwyr, ac yn bwyllgor a fyddai’n sicrhau y byddai darlledwyr yn atebol yn gyhoeddus am eu cyfrifoldebau a’u hymrwymiadau i Gymru.

Ers hynny, rydym wedi treulio amser yn ymgyfarwyddo â’r materion o bwys a’r cefndir. Rydym wedi cymryd tystiolaeth lafar gan y BBC, ITV, S4C ac Ofcom, a chan yr Arglwydd Tony Hall, cyfarwyddwr cyffredinol y BBC. Rydym hefyd wedi gwneud nifer o ymweliadau. Rydym wedi dweud yn glir ein bod yn bwriadu edrych ar bob agwedd o ddarlledu a’r cyfryngau yn ystod y Cynulliad hwn. Noder, er enghraifft, i ambell sylwebydd nodi nad oes llawer o ddefnydd digidol gennym wrth ddadansoddi’r cyfryngau yng Nghymru. Rydym yn fodlon ystyried hyn a materion eraill fel rhan o ymchwiliadau’r dyfodol. Rydym eisoes wedi dechrau ymchwiliad i gylch gwaith, cyllid ac atebolrwydd S4C, a fydd, gobeithio, yn ddylanwadol wrth i Lywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig gynnal adolygiad o’r sianel yn ddiweddarach eleni.

We also intend to take a more detailed look at local media and local news journalism, at commercial radio, and at the portrayal of Wales on UK broadcast networks. ‘The Big Picture’ report sets out our take on the main themes that have arisen from our initial work in this area. As its title suggests, it is not intended to be a detailed analysis of every issue that is of concern, but a foundation for the more focused work we intend to do in the future. Nevertheless, it makes some important recommendations and raises a number of concerns. I will be happy to answer Members’ questions on any of the matters in the report, in the time available. I want to draw attention to a number of them—a number of the recommendations—that I think are particular important.

Portrayal of Wales—BBC: first of all, and perhaps most important, the BBC director general has made a firm commitment that BBC Cymru Wales will receive extra funding for English language broadcasting in Wales. So far, Lord Hall has not put a figure on how much that extra funding should be. We have. We’ve recommended that an additional £30 million should be provided annually for English language drama and broadcasting about Wales. This is not a new recommendation. The previous Assembly’s Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee and the Institute of Welsh Affairs’ media policy group have previously made similar recommendations. Funding of this amount could allow a doubling of the output and allow BBC Wales the chance to produce more quality programmes that earn a place on the BBC network. Lord Hall will appear before the committee in March, and we expect him at that time to announce significant extra funding for English language broadcasting in Wales, and we will use the £30 million figure as a benchmark against which to judge how serious he is.

Portrayal of Wales—ITV: if Wales is to be adequately represented on broadcast networks, we cannot expect the BBC to take sole responsibility. Other public service broadcasters also need to step up to the plate, particularly ITV Cymru Wales. It would be unfair not to recognise their recent, albeit limited, success in securing network commissions. But the fact is that the approach taken by ITV Cymru Wales, and by ITV generally, has not led to Welsh voices being adequately represented on the ITV network. The channel’s approach to commissioning has failed to capture the richness of Welsh communities, and there are considerable aspects of Welsh life that are not portrayed either on the ITV network or on ITV Cymru Wales. We have recommended that ITV Studios adopts a more proactive approach to developing programmes for broadcast on the ITV network, including setting specific goals for developing network output for Wales that reflects life in Wales.

While I would not necessarily expect all committee recommendations to be accepted without comment by those they affect, I, and other members of the committee, were intrigued by ITV’s very defensive public response to this particular recommendation, not only in their corporate response, but in their press analysis, also. For all that it has to take account of commercial realities, the fact remains that ITV Wales is a public service broadcaster with a responsibility to properly reflect the community it serves. So, I am glad to hear that ITV have said that they do intend to continue to engage constructively with the important work of the committee, but I have to say that I did not find their response to this recommendation particularly constructive.

Cyllid S4C: rydym yn poeni’n arw am effaith ddifrifol y toriadau parhaus i gyllideb S4C. Torrwyd y gyllideb o 36 y cant mewn termau real ers 2010. Bydd yn dioddef rhagor o doriadau termau real o tua 10 y cant yn y cyfnod yn arwain at 2021, er gwaethaf ‘elfen o sefydlogrwydd’ oherwydd i gyllid ffi’r drwydded aros yn gyson. Mae hyn wedi cael effaith sylweddol ar yr hyn y mae S4C yn gallu gwneud. Er enghraifft, mae 57 y cant o raglenni bellach yn ailddarllediadau o’i gymharu â dim ond 20 y cant pan lansiwyd y sianel. Mae hyn yn amlwg yn llawer rhy uchel ac yn destun pryder sylweddol iawn i ni fel pwyllgor.

Soniais yn gynharach fod y pwyllgor eisoes wedi dechrau ymchwiliad i gylch gwaith, cyllid ac atebolrwydd S4C, er mwyn cyfrannu at adolygiad Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig o’r sianel yn ddiweddarach eleni. Bydd angen inni ystyried dyfodol S4C yn y man, yn dilyn adroddiad Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig, ac nid cyn hynny. Byddai unrhyw doriadau i gyllideb S4C cyn yr adolygiad yn annerbyniol yn ein tyb ni.

Craffu ar ddemocratiaeth leol—cynigion y BBC: yn fuan ar ôl i’n hadroddiad gael ei gyhoeddi, cyhoeddodd y BBC gynlluniau i helpu i wella’r gwaith o graffu ar ddemocratiaeth leol yn y Deyrnas Unedig drwy wreiddio newyddiadurwyr mewn sefydliadau cyfryngol lleol. Bydd hyn yn golygu 11 o newyddiadurwyr lleol newydd—un i bob dau awdurdod lleol yng Nghymru. Mae unrhyw gam a gymerir i wella’r gwaith o graffu ar ddemocratiaeth leol yn amlwg i’w groesawu. Fodd bynnag, roedd y pwyllgor yn pryderu mai un o ganlyniadau anfwriadol y dull hwn fyddai lleihau ymhellach nifer y gohebwyr mewn ystafelloedd newyddion ledled Cymru.

Mae gwir angen inni weld rhagor o fanylion am y cynnig hwn, er mwyn penderfynu a yw wedi mynd i’r afael â’r pryderon a fynegwyd gennym. Yn lle hynny, fe wnaethom ni argymell math o wasanaeth mwy penodol y gellid ei ddarparu i sefydliadau cyfryngau lleol ar faterion lle mae newyddiaduraeth leol wedi dirywio, fel yn y llysoedd a’r cynghorau—gwasanaeth ‘wire’.

Our report covered a wide range of other matters, such as a news opt-out for Wales on BBC network radio, scrutiny of the appointment of the new BBC board member for Wales, the prominence of S4C on the electronic programme guide, the accountability of broadcasters to the National Assembly and how Channel 4 can improve its portrayal. I hope to be able to take questions from those in the Chamber today, and of course, we are awaiting the response from the Government and we hope to be able to table a debate in the future on this particular area of interest, considering that we have a committee dedicated to looking at communications here in Wales, and want to keep the focus strongly on what broadcasters and the industry are doing here in Wales.

May I congratulate Bethan Jenkins, first of all, on her robust chairing of the committee and a clear leadership on a way forward? I recall, because I’m an old man now, in previous Assemblies, trying to get to grips with this whole issue of discussing broadcasting and the press and so on and their portrayal of Wales generally, and it was very difficult to get a debate of any kind at one point, because it was a non-devolved issue. So, I congratulate Bethan, who has succeeded to push the boat out, so to speak, and enabled us to have a broad-ranging debate. We’ve had the BBC, ITV and S4C before the committee, and we have published this wonderful report—the first here in Wales in its field. The background to all of this is the poor portrayal of Wales, generally speaking, both within Wales and from Wales to the rest of the UK.

Therefore, my first question is: do we as a committee intend to regularly scrutinise the activities of BBC and ITV? We know that Tony Hall will return to the committee, but should we anticipate some comprehensive programme, which would mean that the BBC, ITV and S4C would appear regularly before our committee in the first place?

Also, the other question is on the future of S4C. There is now a review ongoing in other places, of course, but specifically, as some of us are eager to ultimately see the devolution of funding and powers over S4C to this place in their entirety, what work is going to take place as part of any inquiry into the workings of S4C—that aspiration within Wales and among the people of Wales to see S4C devolved to this Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you, Dai, for those very kind words. I didn’t pay Dai Lloyd to say those things, I can assure you. We have been scrutinising ITV, the BBC and others on a regular basis, as part of this inquiry, but as a committee that has ‘communication’ in its title, I think it’s important for us to set the political agenda to ensure that those in the media field are accountable to us and that they feel under pressure that this committee is going to have an opinion on what they do, and that we’re going to be vigilant of what they do. I certainly know that those in the sector are watching what we’re doing as a committee, and that they’re taking what we do seriously. I don’t think that ITV Cymru Wales would’ve responded so strongly if they didn’t take us seriously as a committee. So, I think that’s important. In terms of the BBC, there’s a memorandum of understanding between the Assembly and the BBC, and so there is a requirement that there is a consistent relationship between us and them, so that they can continue in the future. So, I would certainly want them to come in again to give us evidence.

With regard to S4C and devolution, well, as part of the inquiry, you’ll know, Dai Lloyd, that S4C is going to include a question with regard to that inquiry and whether we should look at the devolution of S4C specifically in that context. We haven’t yet gone so far as to discuss devolution in its wider context, but even though we don’t have the powers over devolution here in Wales, it’s important for us to show that we are a nation and that we can lead this agenda, whether we have the powers in this place or not at present.

Can I congratulate my Chairman on her statement and, indeed, more widely on the high seriousness, humour and feather-light touch of chairmanship that she brings to us all? A very model Chairman of a committee, if I may say. I realise that giving compliments in the Chamber in the presence of her party leader may lead to some internal problems in Plaid Cymru for her. I certainly hope not. But my compliment is very genuinely meant.

I just want to refer to what the report says about S4C. In particular, in paragraph 37, we refer to the fact that the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in the UK Government has a statutory duty to ensure that S4C has sufficient funding to fulfil its remit as a public service broadcaster. In view of the cuts that were referred to in the statement and what the report also says about the way in which S4C has had to cut back on its programming, in particular, investment in children’s programmes and a lack of original drama for several months a year, I wonder whether, in fact, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is in breach of statutory duty in this case. I certainly agree with the report saying that it would be quite wrong for any further cuts to S4C’s budget to occur whilst the future is under review. S4C is a very lean organisation. They’ve cut their staffing from 220 to less than 130; their internal overheads are only around 4 per cent compared with an average of about 11 per cent or 12 per cent in the public sector. So, I think S4C, actually, is a very, very considerable success story on very meagre resources. So, the question that I have for the Chairman is whether we have an even stronger case in law than in morality to demand greater funding for S4C, given the importance that this must play in achieving the Government’s objective of 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050 and our ultimate aspiration of having a wholly bilingual nation.

Thank you very much. Again, I didn’t pay anybody for the compliments, but thank you very much anyway. I’m sure my leader won’t be able to give me a row for something you’ve said. That would be a new thing for me, but, hey, wonders will never cease. What can I say?

With regard to S4C, I mean, you know, we would agree on these benches, of course, that the cuts to S4C should never have happened, and I think that’s probably a cross-party consensus by now. It is our one channel, and others are even arguing now that we should be having more than that one channel. I know that S4C has produced a YouTube channel for young people to see how that would potentially engage with them, taking away potential branding or changing the branding so as to appeal to a new audience. We have to really promote S4C, because I go into schools on a regular basis and those who are studying Welsh through English language-medium schools, and many people, don’t even know about S4C, or have ever watched S4C. That’s actually quite distressing, when I know people have fought so hard to create the channel here in Wales for us to consume and for us to converse about and to encourage people to watch programming through the medium of Welsh.

I’m not a lawyer—shock horror—so if it is in breach of statutory duty I’m sure as a committee we can seek legal advice. When we’re having the inquiry on S4C we can seek legal advice on that because it’s a point that I think we should be looking at, because, of course, it’s not just a moral obligation, it’s how they are looking to deliver their legal requirements within the current statutory framework. So, I think that’s a point we need to be looking at. It may be interesting for other people in the Chamber to know that S4C are already going above their statutory and legal requirements because they’re working in digital, and because they’re working in other fields. There is no obligation for them to be doing that, but they are because, obviously, they want to see the channel progress and they want to be working in different ways in the future.

With regards to the 1 million Welsh speakers, well, yes, we’re doing an inquiry on that at the moment and we need to look at the educational front because that’s where we’re hearing the change needs to happen fastest, but we cannot ignore the importance of S4C in being able to realise those targets, and the educational facility that S4C can offer in that regard. For example, I know that there’re actors and scriptwriters in Wales waiting to be able to go into schools and to tell them about the shows that are on S4C, wanting to promote the channel, and if they have role models going into schools and speaking Welsh to them from those particular television shows then that will, potentially, inspire young people and others to watch the channel in the future.

What we have to ensure as part of our inquiry is to make sure that the UK Government know that any cuts are not acceptable. I mean, I wouldn’t want to see any cuts after the review, but especially before the review we should not tolerate any cuts by the DCMS. I think they have improved somewhat towards their relationship with S4C in regard to this agenda—probably learning from previous mistakes in how they’ve made cuts to S4C—but there’s so much yet to do and I hope that as a committee we can work together to make that a reality.

Thank you very much. There are no more speakers in this statement.