Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:40 pm on 6 March 2019.
I thank the Deputy Minister for his response. I’d like to now turn to broadcasting. Last week, we heard that Welsh morning broadcasts on the Heart and Capital networks will be brought to an end, with British broadcasts provided in their place. Clearly, many people were extremely disappointed with this announcement. The reason that the parent company, Global, has been able to scrap these programmes is that Ofcom has recently slackened the rules in order to decrease the required number of locally produced broadcasts.
In addition, there’s been a great deal of attention given to Pitching In, the new BBC programme—a programme written in England, from an English perspective, with the identity of Anglesey, where the programme is located, being ignored. Many characters in the programme have Valleys accents, and the programme portrays an image of north Wales that is entirely foreign to local residents. Ofcom has rejected making regulations that would force producers of programmes of this kind to cast local actors. If this were to happen, it would avoid such a mess arising again, because local voices would be heard from the beginning. Time and again, regulators in London prioritise the interests of wealthy commercial companies over the benefits and interests of the people of Wales. What steps has the Welsh Government taken to put pressure on Ofcom to consider the interests of audiences and the creative sector in Wales in making decisions, and what steps do you intend to take in future to undo this damage and to try to ensure that Welsh interests will have a better hearing in future?