S4C: Senedd committee joins calls for chair to go

Rhodri Williams has been S4C's chair for nearly four years, with his term due to end on 1 April

Senedd politicians have joined a cross-party group of MPs in calling for the chair of scandal-hit broadcaster S4C to be replaced.

The organisation has been in crisis after a string of bullying allegations saw two senior officers fired.

Members of the Welsh Parliament's culture committee said high numbers of staff leaving the channel "should have rung alarm bells", accusing him of a failure of oversight and governance.

S4C said it had nothing to add.

At a hearing of the committee on Thursday Mr Williams defended why he did not act sooner prior to concerns being raised by the Bectu union, saying it was because staff would not approach him in fear of the chief executive.

It was the second of two grillings the chair faced from politicians in two days - with the first from the Welsh Affairs Select Committee on Wednesday.

Both committees concluded that Mr Williams should be replaced once his term ends on 1 April.

It is up to the UK government's Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer to reinstate him, or appoint a new chair.

The Senedd committee's conclusions came after Mr Williams criticised the MPs for allegedly showing "no concern" for staff at S4C.

Making the case to stay on, Mr Williams said staff and producers wanted stability.

• Report told sacked TV boss behaved like dictator

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Mr Williams faced scrutiny over how he has handled difficulties at the broadcaster, which became dogged by allegations of inappropriate behaviour last year.

A report by lawyers at Capital Law heard claims that the channel's chief executive, Sian Doyle, had behaved like a dictator - the law firm had spoken to 92 people who gave evidence about the atmosphere and working environment at S4C.

Ms Doyle has rejected the allegations. She and another senior officer the report named said they had been given no notice of the report and had not been offered a right of reply by S4C.

At the Senedd Mr Williams defended not sharing the report prior to publication, suggesting the report could have been "misused" in a campaign aired in the press against him had it been shared with individuals it named.

Mr Williams said it had been the "most difficult period in the history of S4C".

S4C has been in turmoil after a string of bullying claims.

Amid claims by Labour of "total silence" from the culture secretary, Mr Williams said he was told by government officials that a meeting with Ms Frazer "was not necessary".

In a letter to her Senedd culture committee chair Delyth Jewell said it was "wholly unacceptable that that neither you, as secretary of state, nor indeed your predecessors, have seen fit to meet the leadership of S4C".

She said it was astonishing that requests for a meeting were not accepted.

"In an organisation the size of S4C, it should have been apparent to the chair that there were significant problems. The high numbers of staff leaving the channel should have rung alarm bells.

"The fact that this did not happen suggests a failure of oversight and governance on the Chair's behalf.

"In that regard, we recommend that a new chair should be appointed to lead the Board of S4C as it seeks to repair and renew its reputation."

She called for the Welsh government in Cardiff to be given a formal role in the appointment of the next chair.

'Tearful'

At the hearing on Thursday Labour MS Alun Davies read Mr Williams an extract from the Capital Law report, in which a staff member describes becoming "very tearful" and unable to sleep.

Mr Davies said he found it "quite incredible" that as someone with "decades of experience in this area" and "an experienced chairperson" you "didn't know until you received the letter from the union what was happening within the organisation where you were chair".

Mr Williams confirmed that "none of the staff had approached me until that time".

"The reason it hadn't happened was that nobody had felt that they could approach me, or another member of the board, because of fear of the chief executive, the behaviour of the chief executive and the conduct of the chief executive," he said.

Mr Williams explained why he did not let the two senior staff criticised in the Capital Law report see the document before it was published.

As well as Sian Doyle, the report also criticised the behaviour of sacked chief content officer Llinos Griffin-Williams, who had accused S4C of a lack of due process.

She was sacked over an alleged incident in Nantes where she was claimed to have told a Welsh rugby star she could end his career - she has denied that and has threatened legal action.

'Efforts to undermine report'

In the Welsh Parliament committee Mr Williams accused the pair of mounting a media "campaign" against "myself against, the board and against S4C, against DCMS [UK government Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport], against the secretary of state".

"Would it have been responsible for us to provide that report beforehand to people who would have an opportunity to misuse it?"

The individuals had already "plenty of efforts" to undermine the report prior to publication, he said, and giving them advance sight of the document would have enabled further attempts to do so. he said.

"That has happened since then. It's being denied that any of this happened despite the weight of evidence that we have received."

Asked if he had considered his position, Mr Williams said there had been "no focus whatsoever yesterday on what staff members in S4C have suffered" at the Commons committee on Wednesday.

"There was no concern expressed about what they have had to go through over a long period of months."

Arguing why he should stay, Mr Williams said staff and production companies want a "period of stability".

"Anything that creates further instability for our staff is not going to help the staff, and is not going to help the organisation as a whole either," he said.

A DCMS spokesperson said: "Since S4C was launched in 1982 by the UK government, the broadcaster has made a valuable contribution to the lives and wellbeing of Welsh speakers and learners. The government is expanding S4C's powers in the media bill which is currently going through parliament and has increased its funding since 2022 to support its digital development.

"As its sponsor department, DCMS has had frequent contact with S4C at senior official level as well as through correspondence and meetings between ministers and S4C leadership."