BBC licence fee: Welsh channel S4C to get extra £7.5m

Welsh-language TV channel S4C will get an extra £7.5m per year from April, the UK culture secretary has said.

The cash will come from the BBC licence fee, which is being frozen at £159 per household until 2024.

Nadine Dorries said the money, aimed at boosting their digital output, will support S4C to reach younger audiences.

But Plaid Cymru said the announcement will have "serious consequences" for Welsh and English-language programming.

S4C welcomed the new funding settlement, which will increase the funding it gets from the licence fee from £74.5m to £88.8m.

The figure includes £6.8m that was previously provided directly by the UK government, but will now instead come from the licence fee as well.

S4C's funding had been frozen for the previous five years.

Ms Dorries told the Commons the broadcaster "plays a unique and critical role in promoting the Welsh language".

"S4C plays a vital role in supporting the Welsh economy, culture and society. This funding will support S4C in reaching more Welsh-language speakers including younger audiences," she told MPs.

Plaid Cymru's Ben Lake, who represents Ceredigion, asked Ms Dorries how a real-terms cut to the BBC licence fee would not result in a reduction "in its important contribution to Welsh-language services".

"It's pleasing to hear the Secretary of State claim that she recognises the importance of Welsh-language broadcasting, but she then proceeded to announce a real-terms cut to the BBC settlement, a settlement of course that provides around £20m of S4C programming annually, in addition to Welsh-language services on Radio Cymru, Radio Cymru 2 and Cymru Fyw," he said.

Mr Lake added: "Today's announcement casts doubt on the future vitality of Welsh public broadcasting."

Labour's Shadow Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens accused the Conservatives of vandalising the BBC, and said the licence fee announcement was a "pathetic attempt to divert public attention from a shamed and failing prime minister whose premiership is hanging by a thread.

She said: "The BBC's role in our creative industries in Wales is a huge success story. Every £1 of the BBC's economic activity in Wales generates £2.63 in our economy."

In announcing the freeze, Ms Dorries said the government could "not justify extra pressure on the wallets of hardworking households".

She added: "The BBC must support people at a time when their finances are strained, make savings and efficiencies, and use the billions in public funding it receives to deliver for viewers, listeners and users."

Director general Tim Davie said the freeze would mean "tougher choices which will impact licence fee payers".

S4C chief executive Siân Doyle said: "This is great news for S4C's audience in Wales and beyond."

S4C chairman Rhodri Williams stressed digital-only was not the future of S4C.

Mr Williams, the former director of Ofcom in Wales, said: "That we have a space that ensures prominence on traditional television sets is important for S4C today, and will be important for years to come."

Welsh Independent Producers, which represents 50 independent production companies in Wales, said it was pleased with the increase in funding for S4C, but the overall freeze "will create significant difficulties".

"We have great concerns about this decision and the effect it will have on the creative industries at a time when they are still recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic," chairman Dyfrig Davies said.