Yr Egin: 'Fog' around S4C-university relationship

An artist's impression of the planned new S4C building in Carmarthen

There are "transparency" questions and a "fog" around the relationship between S4C and the university providing its new home, a Tory MP has said.

Craig Williams questioned the £3m S4C has agreed to pay University of Wales Trinity St David in upfront rent, equivalent to £150,000 a year.

He said there is a disparity with £26,000 paid in annual rent by Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol to the university.

S4C and the university said it was not possible to compare the two deals.

The Welsh-language TV channel plans to relocate to the Yr Egin project next year, moving 55 staff members from Cardiff to Carmarthen.

Figures released following a freedom on information request show that Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol pays the university £26,000 in rent annually.

It has 20 members of staff in an older building adjacent to the Yr Egin development.

The Welsh Government will decide this month if it will contribute up to £6m to the project.

Craig Williams questioned the £3m in upfront rent for the scheme

Speaking to BBC Wales' Newyddion 9, Cardiff North MP Craig Williams said: "It is a question of transparency, there is a bit of a fog around this development.

"We have seen it regarding the application to the Welsh Government for a grant, at the same time an assurance to S4C that they don't need the grant to be able to go ahead.

"We have seen it with the way rent is being paid with a single upfront payment of £3m."

He said the "most objective person" looking at the payment "would see this as questionable".

"You've also got the disparity between the rent for the college next door which admittedly is half the size [than S4C] but certainly not half the payment", he said.

Planning permission was granted in October but a funding gap has appeared

Both S4C and the university said it wasn't possible to make the comparison with Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, with the university stating both buildings differ in nature and age.

In a statement S4C said: "The sum the coleg are paying for their 12-year-old offices is for the present period.

"What S4C are intending to pay is for the future 20 years and for high quality offices that will give certainty and be risk-free for S4C.

"S4C have a 20 year business plan, which is cost neutral, but also gives the option of extending to a 25 year lease at no further cost.

"There will not be any rent reviews over the period under this arrangement. The prices agreed were in line with the District Valuer's opinion on market rental values in Carmarthen."