Agenda item

In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, Councillor Elfed Wyn ap Elwyn will propose as follows:-

The Council calls on the Westminster Government to devolve powers for broadcasting and media to the Senedd, and for the Welsh Government to proceed with the work of preparing and discussing with Westminster how best to realise this.

The Council calls on the Westminster Government to devolve powers for broadcasting and media to the Senedd, and for the Welsh Government to proceed with the work of preparing and discussing with Westminster how best to realise this.

The following notice of motion was submitted by Councillor Elfed Wyn ap Elwyn in accordance with Section 4.19 of the Constitution, and it was seconded:-

The Council calls on the Westminster Government to devolve powers for broadcasting and media to the Senedd, and for the Welsh Government to proceed with the work of preparing and discussing with Westminster how best to realise this.

The member set out the context to his motion, noting:-

·         That it had become clear in recent years that Wales did not get the full picture when it came to discussing affairs that were key to us as a nation, and that not having control of the media had caused confusion to the people of Wales when discussing protests, crises and general affairs that affected us as people from day to day.

·         The lockdowns during Covid were a classic example of this, when the media had shared news that was not relevant to Wales, thus causing confusion with regards to people's right to cross the border.

·         The same story was also true when Welsh affairs were discussed on the national news and in the national papers; matters that included devolution, the farmers' protest, national healthcare, and a whole host of important issues, because the Welsh perspective and time afforded to these issues was very limited.

·         It was also disappointing that Welsh broadcasting had not had the same opportunity to grow as media in similar countries, such as Catalonia and the Basque Country, that had various channels in their own language, as well as bilingual channels, and channels in Spanish that had a Catalan/Basque perspective.

·         Without a full, clear debate with a Welsh perspective on these key issues, it became difficult to understand what next steps were to be taken, which meant that we tended to go round in circles on hot topics without knowing which way to resolve them.

·         It was important that the Westminster Government and the Welsh Government entered discussions at once on how broadcasting and media could be devolved, by looking at how to fund it and make it sustainable.

Other members expressed support to the proposal and noted:-

·         That TV/radio channels were established in the Basque Country and Catalonia around the same time as when S4C and Radio Cymru were established here in Wales.  In terms of context, the Basque Country initially had 1 TV channel and 1 radio channel, but now had 6 TV channels and 5 radio channels.  At the beginning Catalonia had 1 TV channel and 1 radio channel, but they now had 6 TV channels and 3 radio channels.

·         That the UK Government's Media Bill 2024 replaced the need to offer provision through the medium of Welsh, and although the Senedd Cymru's Culture Committee had expressed clear concern about this, the clause was not protected.  As a result, more than 20 years of Welsh language broadcasting on the commercial channels, including Champion, Heart and Capital, came to an end on 24 February this year, resulting in job losses and creating a void in terms of our culture.

·         Members had heard in recent days that Radio Cymru and BBC Sounds would not be able to broadcast to people outside the UK due to the changes to the BBC Sounds provision.  This would be a huge loss for Welsh-learners around the world and for Welsh-speakers living abroad.

RESOLVED to adopt the motion, namely:-

The Council calls on the Westminster Government to devolve powers for broadcasting and media to the Senedd, and for the Welsh Government to proceed with the work of preparing and discussing with Westminster how best to realise this.