BBC Trust member Elan Closs Stephens appointed to S4C Authority Board
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt appoints Professor Elan Closs Stephens as a member of the S4C Authority from 12 July 2012 to 31 October 2014.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has appointed Professor Elan Closs Stephens as a member of the S4C Authority from 12 July 2012 to 31 October 2014.
The BBC and S4C reached an agreement about new governance arrangements in October 2011, which includes an option for the BBC Trust member for Wales to be appointed to the S4C Board, if the BBC wishes.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt said:
“I welcome the appointment of Elan Closs Stephens. Her role will be key to delivering the operating agreement between S4C and the BBC Trust and in ensuring that the editorial and managerial independence of S4C is protected, whilst safeguarding appropriate accountability to the BBC Trust for licence fee funding.”
Elan Closs Stephens is Emeritus Professor at the Department of Film, Theatre and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University. She has provided strategic leadership to cultural bodies as Chair S4C (1998-2006), Governor of the BFI (2001-2007), Chair of the Report on the Arts in Wales (Stephens Report 2006) and as a Trustee of Arts & Business UK. She is High Sheriff of Dyfed for 2012-2013 and in 2001 she was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting and the Welsh language. In 2010 she was appointed as the BBC Trust member for Wales for a term of four years.
Notes to Editors
-
S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru - the Welsh Fourth Channel) is a statutory Authority, originally established, in 1982, under the Broadcasting Act 1981 and now regulated by the Communications Act 2003 and the Broadcasting Act 1990. Following the completion of the digital switchover process in Wales, S4C became a fully stand-alone Welsh language channel.
-
S4C is currently funded through a mixture of grant-in-aid and advertising and commercial revenue and, in 2011, had a turnover of £90 million. It also receives a statutory minimum of 10 hours a week of Welsh language programming provided free of charge from the BBC and funded from the television licence fee. In the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review, the Government considered a range of options to make the funding of S4C more flexible in line with wider spending constraints, while carefully balancing the need to ensure that S4C continues to receive sufficient funding to meet its statutory duties. As a result, the Government announced major changes to S4C’s governance, accountability and funding with the BBC becoming the major funder of the channel from 2013/14. In October 2011, the S4C Authority, the BBC Trust and the DCMS reached agreement on the future funding, governance and accountability of S4C until 2017, including an option for the BBC Trust member for Wales, to be appointed to the S4C Board. The arrangements will protect the editorial and managerial independence of S4C, whilst safeguarding appropriate accountability to the BBC Trust for licence fee funding spent by the Authority.
-
The remuneration for the post is offered at £9,650 per annum. Reasonable expenses are offered.
-
Political activity plays no part in selection or reappointment processes. In accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for political activity in the United Kingdom in the past five years to be made public. No political activity has been declared.
Press Enquiries: 020 7211 2210
Out of hours telephone pager no: 07699 751153
Public Enquiries: 020 7211 6000