The S4C Authority has presented its Annual Report and Statement of Accounts 2010 to Parliament.
After what he describes as a ‘turbulent year in S4C’s history’, Huw Jones, the newly-appointed Chairman of the S4C Authority, says, “My hope is that we can now turn attention to the challenge which lies ahead of us, namely to ensure that we sustain a strong, attractive Welsh language television service, to the satisfaction of as many viewers as possible, as we get to grips with the structural and financial issues that face us.
“Over the next few weeks, we need to reach agreement with the BBC Trust and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) regarding the details of the new partnership and funding method which is to come into force during 2013. We will also press on with the appointment of a permanent Chief Executive and Director of Content. Putting into practice Sir Jon Shortridge’s recommendations regarding the nature and structure of the relationship between the Authority and its officers, we will approve a strategy to provide a modern, attractive service during a period of cutting back, and will consider every possible means of reducing expenditure which does not directly involve the creation of programmes and content.
“We will be as open as it is possible to be, for an organisation dealing with commercial contracts, regarding the rationale underpinning our decisions and we will want to ensure that the opinions of the people of Wales - our viewers – and their representatives are heard and understood by us.
“I have been appointed to serve in this post for a period of four years. Four years is also the duration of the financial security given us by the Secretary of State’s October 2010 statement.
“Beyond that point, S4C’s future – its independence and its funding – will depend on the outcome of an external review which is to take place before the end of that period. Our task, therefore, is to ensure that that review provides positive affirmation of the service’s performance, the public’s appreciation of it, the value for money provided and its wider contribution to the life of the nation. These are the subjects on which I and the other Authority members will be focussing during the period to come.”
