House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee
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House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee S4C Written evidence - web List of written evidence 1 URDD 3 2 Hugh Evans 5 3 Ron Jones 6 4 Dr Simon Brooks 14 5 The Writers Guild of Great Britain 18 6 Mabon ap Gwynfor 23 7 Welsh Language Board 28 8 Ofcom 34 9 Professor Thomas P O’Malley, Aberystwth University 60 10 Tinopolis 64 11 Institute of Welsh Affairs 69 12 NUJ Parliamentary Group 76 13 Plaim Cymru 77 14 Welsh Language Society 85 15 NUJ and Bectu 94 16 DCMS 98 17 PACT 103 18 TAC 113 19 BBC 126 20 Mercator Institute for Media, Languages and Culture 132 21 Mr S.G. Jones 138 22 Alun Ffred Jones AM, Welsh Assembly Government 139 23 Celebrating Our Language 144 24 Peter Edwards and Huw Walters 146 2 Written evidence submitted by Urdd Gobaith Cymru In the opinion of Urdd Gobaith Cymru, Wales’ largest children and young people’s organisation with 50,000 members under the age of 25: • The provision of good-quality Welsh language programmes is fundamental to establishing a linguistic context for those who speak Welsh and who wish to learn it. • It is vital that this is funded to the necessary level. • A good partnership already exists between S4C and the Urdd, but the Urdd would be happy to co-operate and work with S4C to identify further opportunities for collaboration to offer opportunities for children and young people, thus developing new audiences. • We believe that decisions about the development of S4C should be made in Wales. 1. The Urdd is an organisation for children and young people which has 50,000 members under the age of 25 throughout Wales. We hold cultural, social and sporting activities at a local and national level. We organise eisteddfodau, sports competitions and maintain three residential centres, where over 40,000 children and young people come to stay annually. 2. Our aim is to offer the children and young people of Wales an opportunity to live their lives through the medium of Welsh, developing confidence and respect for each other. 3. We would have serious concerns if the new arrangements were to be detrimental to the Welsh language – the language of many young people in Wales. Whatever the arrangements, we call upon S4C to develop programming for children and young people and we wish to co-operate further with S4C to develop the provision by broadcasting programmes which reflect the Urdd’s activities. 4. Adequate funding is vitally important to ensure that the quality is of good standard. It must be accepted that creating programmes incurs costs , more costly than, for example, organising social activity on a local level. 5. S4C is an important part of the linguistic context in Wales and an integral part of the effort to ensure language use and that the language is heard and used. S4C is not simply a television service but part of a language strategy. Language experts across the globe emphasise the importance of broadcasting in lesser-used languages in order to reach the audience and show that the language is contemporary, technologically modern and thus relevant to the age. Only since the advent of Radio Cymru in the 70s and S4C in the 80s have Welsh speakers heard the varied language that exists across 3 the country and this has been vitally important, as was the case with the English language and the BBC in the 1920’s. 6. The contribution of S4C can be compared to the translation of the Bible into Welsh which elevated the language to a very privileged status. It was a new use of the language and a new medium – it was a crucial development in that age and a ‘modern’ development. No comparable thing happened with other languages across Britain or Europe with the result that the Welsh language survived whilst others have died out. Therefore the existence of a Welsh channel and radio services and all other technological media are vitally important to the language. 7. Artistically S4C has provided opportunities for the talents of children and young people over the years – talents that would not have seen the light of day without the existence of S4C. 8. The partnership between S4C and the Urdd has meant we as an organisation have been able to develop young talents and have provided more opportunities for children and young people. 9. The fact that television is available in Welsh ensures that the Welsh language is a ‘normal’ language, in the same way as Microsoft in Welsh normalises the language, as do international companies that advertise in Welsh; mobile phones, websites. 10. The fact that there is so much discussion about the quality of S4C programmes proves that the people of Wales demonstrate ownership of the channel. 11. The economic contribution made by S4C is significant especially in Cardiff and particularly in the north west where the percentage of people who have been employed through S4C has been a major boost to the local economy. 12. There is co-operation between S4C and the Urdd on several levels. There exists a partnership with the Urdd’s magazines which have a monthly readership of 30,000 and we are partners in the Wales Children’s Laureate Project. 13. The independence of the channel is vitally important and the model of deterring political interference has enabled the development of services that reflect the opinions of the Welsh audience. As an organisation we receive much praise for programmes from our Eisteddfod and the Bryn Terfel Urdd Gobaith Cymru Scholarship. The loss of this independence, and the funding to maintain it, will be a significant loss to the development of the language in modern Wales. 1 November 2010 4 Written evidence submitted by Hugh Evans 1. I can speak English, but my first language is Welsh. When writing about the Welsh language or Welsh language organisations, I can express my views and feelings far more precisely through the medium of Welsh than I can in English. For that reason, I have written my Submission (below), which is in the form of Bullet Points, in Welsh. 2 Submission to the House of Commons Select Committee on its inquiry into the broadcaster S4C , by a person who lives in London. (i) It’s not only viewers in Wales that benefit from the service provided by S4C. (ii) More and more people outside Wales can access S4C through Sky or watch S4C programmes on S4C’s website. From the figures given by S4C on their programme “Noson y Gwylwyr” (25/10/10), there is a growth of 82,000 viewers in England alone this year. (iii) So when the Committee is considering the value of this channel, you must please remember the advantages of S4C for those Welsh who are away from home – namely culture, knowledge, language development, pure enjoyment and more. Also for Welsh speaking children who live outside Wales, to have a children programming in their first language, when perhaps they hear little Welsh outside the home and their family, is priceless. (iv) It is difficult to put a price on these advantages. Personally, to watch a programme in my first language - when around us in London we hear English and other languages – is a deeper and more emotional experience on the whole than I feel watching programmes in English. Also, some programmes such as “Gwyl Cerdd Dant” [a music festival] and “Y Talwrn” [a poetry programme] are completely unique to the culture and language of the Welsh – it would be impossible for programmes like this to be produced on an English channel. (v) There are many non-Welsh people outside Wales who love to watch S4C. For example, I am a member of an English choir here in London and many of my fellow choristers who are English often watch the musical programmes on S4C (on Sky or on the computer) especially choral programmes likes “Mil o Leisiau” [A thousand voices]. They say that there are no equivalent programmes on an English channel. (vi) I do not feel too qualified to comment on Mr Jeremy Hunt's intent to transfer financial responsibility for the funding of S4C to the BBC. But, as Mr. Hunt has severely criticised the BBC on several occasions for wasting money and being ineffective in its current responsibilities, the question arises: What makes Mr Jeremy Hunt think that the BBC will be effective in the added responsibility of dealing with the budget for S4C? November 2010 5 Written evidence submitted by Ron Jones, Chairman of the Welsh Assembly Government’s Creative Industries Panel Declaration of interest and additional information I am Executive Chairman of Tinopolis Limited, one of the UK’s largest television production groups. The group is headquartered in Llanelli with production centres also in London, Glasgow and Cardiff. S4C and the BBC are significant customers of the Company. The Welsh Assembly Government’s Creative Industries Panel was established in the last few weeks. Therefore, the Panel has not had an opportunity to discuss the future of S4C and the views set out in this document are my own. The views are consistent with advice I have already shared with the relevant WAG Ministers and other politicians at Welsh and UK levels. 1. Summary 1.1 There is an urgent need to build a political consensus in Wales and Westminster to safeguard Welsh language television services. The consensus needs to be fair and practicable. It needs to be widely accepted and, as importantly, ensure there is no conflict at political or social level. 1.2 An independent review of S4C, its governance, remit and funding requirements is urgently needed.