John Walter Jones, the Chair of the S4C Authority, confirmed to his fellow authority members on Tuesday night (23 November) that he had tendered his resignation to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. This follows a meeting he held on 16 November with the Secretary of State. Mr Jones later told the Authority that his resignation would take immediate effect.
A spokesman for the S4C Authority said tonight, (Wednesday 24 November) “We have not received formal confirmation of this decision from the DCMS and have had no contact with Mr Jones since last night’s meeting.”
Following John Walter Jones’ announcement, the Authority considered how best to move forward to ensure continuity and leadership for the Channel, and appointed a vice-chair. Rheon Tomos was unanimously elected as the Authority’s vice-chair.
The spokesman added, “There has always been unanimity within the Authority of the importance of discussions with DCMS and the BBC regarding the future direction of S4C. Meetings have been held with both the DCMS and the BBC Trust and a further meeting will be held next week.”