AMs demand details of new cash for BBC Wales

More than two thirds of AMs have signed a letter to BBC Director General Lord Hall demanding he "be specific" about how much extra money he intends to give to BBC Wales.

Lord Hall, in a letter to Carwyn Jones last month, said the BBC planned to "allocate additional funding" across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

But Llanelli AM Lee Waters said words were not enough.

The BBC said they would confirm the allocation "in months to come".

The AMs' letter, signed by 41 AMs from Labour, Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and UKIP, said the BBC needed to make clear immediately exactly how much money would be available.

Lee Waters, Labour AM for Llanelli

Mr Waters, the Labour AM for Llanelli, said: "Over the last 10 years the budget of BBC Wales, and the number of hours of programmes it produces, has been cut by a quarter.

"Two years ago Tony Hall came to Cardiff to acknowledge that the BBC wasn't doing enough to portray Wales on the screen.

"And he's still saying the same, but words aren't enough. It's high time we saw the colour of his money."

Mr Waters added it was "no longer good enough to simply acknowledge the problem", saying it was "time for specifics about how much extra the BBC will invest in Wales".

In 2014 Lord Hall told an audience in Cardiff that English-language television programming in Wales has been "eroded".

A BBC spokesman said: "We welcome the Assembly Members' acknowledgment of the measures the BBC proposes taking to better reflect the full diversity of the UK on screen and on air.

"Despite the financial challenges the BBC faces, we've said that we plan to allocate additional funding to spend on improving the BBC's dedicated services in the nations, and we'll confirm where we are able to invest more money in the months to come."