House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee S4C Fifth Report of Session 2010–12 Volume II Additional written evidence Ordered by the House of Commons to be published 23 and 30 November and 14 December 2010 Published on 11 May 2011 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited The Welsh Affairs Committee The Welsh Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales (including relations with the National Assembly for Wales). Current membership David T.C. Davies MP (Conservative, Monmouth) (Chair) Stuart Andrew MP (Conservative, Pudsey) Guto Bebb MP (Conservative, Aberconwy) Alun Cairns MP (Conservative, Vale of Glamorgan), Geraint Davies MP (Labour, Swansea West) Jonathan Edwards MP (Plaid Cymru, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) Mrs Siân C. James MP (Labour, Swansea East) Susan Elan Jones MP (Labour, Clwyd South) Karen Lumley MP (Conservative, Redditch) Jessica Morden MP (Labour, Newport East) Owen Smith MP (Labour, Pontypridd) Mr Mark Williams MP (Liberal Democrat, Ceredigion) The following Members were members of the committee during the Parliament: Glyn Davies MP (Conservative, Montgomeryshire) Nia Griffith MP (Labour, Llanelli) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the internet at www.parliament.uk/welshcom The Reports of the Committee, the formal minutes relating to that report, oral evidence taken and some or all written evidence are available in printed volumes. Additional written evidence may be published on the internet only. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee is Adrian Jenner (Clerk), Anwen Rees (Inquiry Manager), Jenny Nelson (Senior Committee Assistant), Dabinder Rai (Committee Assistant), and Jessica Bridges-Palmer (Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Welsh Affairs Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 3264; and the Committee’s email address is [email protected] List of additional written evidence (published in Volume II on the Committee’s website www.parliament.uk/welshcom) Page 1 Urdd Gobaith Cymru Ev w1 2 Hugh Evans Ev w2 3 Dr Simon Brooks, School of Welsh, Cardiff University Ev w2 4 Writers Guild of Great Britain Ev w4 5 Mabon ap Gwynfor Ev w7 6 Professor Thomas P O’Malley, Aberystwyth University Ev w9 7 Angharad Mair, Tinopolis Wales Ev w11 8 Institute of Welsh Affairs Ev w14 9 Plaid Cymru Ev w18 10 PACT Ev w22 11 Mercator Institute for Media, Languages and Culture, Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, Aberystwyth University Ev w26 12 Mr S G Jones Ev w29 13 Celebrating Our Welsh Language Ev w29 14 Peter Edwards and Huw Walters Ev w30 cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [SO] Processed: [06-05-2011 15:45] Job: 007747 Unit: PG01 Welsh Affairs Committee: Evidence Ev w1 Written evidence 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 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 cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [06-05-2011 15:45] Job: 007747 Unit: PG01 Ev w2 Welsh Affairs Committee: Evidence 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. November 2010 Written evidence submitted by Hugh Evans1 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 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.