Welsh broadcasting funding fears of first minister

The UK government does not care about Welsh language broadcasting, First Minister Carwyn Jones has said.

He said it was "difficult" to see how it would be funded after a green paper was published on the BBC's future.

But Conservative MP Glyn Davies insisted UK ministers were committed to Welsh language TV and radio.

It comes as BBC Wales' director Rhodri Talfan Davies told the National Eisteddfod how Welsh broadcasting has "never mattered more".

In July, the UK government launched its consultation paper on the future of the BBC with a "root-and-branch" review of the corporation as it heads towards charter renewal in 2016.

Since then, concern has been raised about how Welsh language broadcasters would be funded.

Speaking on BBC Radio Cymru's Rhaglen Dylan Jones on Monday, the first minister said there needed to be an "element of certainty" that the future of TV channel S4C and and BBC Radio Cymru was secure.

Most of S4C's funding now comes from the BBC licence fee

"I don't think that they [the UK government] care at all about Welsh-medium broadcasting," he said.

"They haven't considered S4C at all when deciding that the BBC should fund the Welsh language channel.

"It's difficult at the moment [to tell] how Welsh language broadcasting will be funded in the future."

S4C currently receives the bulk of its money - £76.3m in 2013-2014 - from the BBC Trust, with £7m from the UK government plus some commercial income.

A spokesman for the Department for Culture Media and Sport said: "The UK government is committed to the provision of minority language broadcasting, including S4C.

"We continue to provide £7m per year in funding to S4C, in addition to the £76m of licence fee funding set out for the channel until April 2017.

"All future decisions on licence fee funding, along with the scale and scope of the BBC, are for Charter Review which will be a thorough and open process, welcoming everyone's views."

Glyn Davies, Conservative MP for Montgomeryshire, said there was "no evidence or credibility" for the first minister's accusations, saying Welsh language broadcasting "remains important" to the UK government.

"There will be a debate to push all of S4C's funding onto the BBC but I will do what I can to ensure there will be continued funding from Westminster," the MP added.

Rhodri Talfan Davies has spoken of the "loyalty" shown to Welsh language broadcasting

The comments came as the director of BBC Wales delivered his first speech since the UK government launched its consultation into the BBC's future.

Rhodri Talfan Davies said Welsh language broadcasting's role in sustaining culture was growing.

"The case for the public investment that supports it has never been clearer," he said, warning that broadcasters will have to "inspire" the audience to "turn to the Welsh language" in a rapidly changing digital world.

Mr Davies also underlined the importance of the current review of the BBC's Royal Charter to the future of Welsh broadcasting.

He said: "There is simply too much at stake in this charter review. Get it wrong, and we could see public funding reserved solely for a narrow range of rather niche programmes that commercial companies wouldn't be interested in making."