S4C chair says resigning would cause 'further instability' at troubled broadcaster

The chair of S4C has apologised for not realising earlier the scale of problems and a culture of fear within the troubled broadcaster.

But Rhodri Williams told Senedd members that it would cause “further instability” if he were to resign his post or be replaced, as called for by Welsh MPs.

Mr Williams told Senedd Members that he and other members of the board overseeing S4C were "kept in the dark" about how bad things had become until they were "alerted" by the broadcasting union.

One Senedd Member said he found it “incredible” that board members didn’t know about what was going on in the organisation.

But the S4C chair said that a “culture of fear” encouraged by former senior executives prevented employees from speaking out.

He said that the board acted quickly once “the floodgates opened” after a letter to the board from the broadcasting union BECTU.

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Mr Williams was facing further questions about his handling of the situation at S4C following a series of allegations about bullying and a toxic culture.

The Chief Executive, Sian Doyle, was sacked in November last year after a damning report commissioned by the board and carried out by the legal firm, Capital Law.

Her dismissal came a month after S4C’s chief content officer Llinos Griffin-Williams was sacked during the Rugby World Cup after serious allegations were made about her conduct in France.

Rhodri Williams told Senedd Members that he was sorry that he and board members didn’t realise the scale of the problems.

“Certainly, I'm sorry that we didn't pick up on it earlier but I don't think that you can place blame on people for not realising that because [broadcast union] BECTU wrote to the Chief Executive first of all on the 2nd of December 2022.”

He added: “We as a board received reports from the Chief Executive and what we were told is that steps were being put in place and that there was a listening exercise with staff and that everything was moving in the right direction.”

“So yes, I am frustrated that we hadn't understood the gravity of the problems early in the concerns that staff members had, but on the other hand, there was no evidence - we received some evidence when we met in Caernarfon on January 2023 that there was some disquiet as I would describe it, but, they weren't the kind of serious allegations that were raised by BECTU later on.”

Labour MS Alun Davies said he couldn’t understand why “warning signs” had been missed, he said: “I find it really curious to say the least, that no non-Exec had any inkling of the depth of the problems facing the institution.

“Reading the report from Capital Law is absolutely heartbreaking, listening to people saying that they were in tears, they were afraid to go to work.

“You will have had reports I assume from HR about the staff turnover, so you would have known that there were quite a large number of people leaving your organisation which is unusual, an increased churn, which I would have found curious and yet there wasn't any wish to investigate or to ask further questions.”

Mr Williams told MSs that a meeting of the board would take place in a fortnight’s time to look at next steps but he said that “some of the work has already begun.”

He said a report published by the legal firm Capital Law showed that it was not S4C’s policies in terms of culture which had created difficulties, but the leadership and management.

“There is a danger, I think that people aren't willing to accept the truth about what's happened here.”

Rhodri Williams’ appearance in the Welsh Parliament came a day after he was quizzed in the UK Parliament by MPs belonging to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee.

Following yesterday’s session, the committee took the unprecedented step of writing to the UK Culture Secretary within hours of their own evidence session with Mr Williams, calling for him to be replaced as chair of S4C.

In the letter, Stephen Crabb who chairs the Welsh Affairs committee said: “The committee was concerned by some of the evidence we heard, in particular regarding the effective leadership and governance of the organisation.

“Following the session, the committee remains concerned about the ability of the current leadership to oversee the changes required to rebuild trust at all levels of the organisation and with its wider stakeholders.

“Given the importance of S4C and the scale of the challenges with respect to improving governance and culture within the organisation, we recommend that the Government appoint a new chair to take this work forward.”

Rhodri Williams was asked about this during today’s Senedd meeting with Alun Davies asking him if he had reconsidered his position after the Welsh Affairs Committee’s move.

He hit back at the committee saying that during the questioning “there was no focus whatsoever yesterday on what staff members in s foresee have suffered.

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

He continued: “And my concern is that … anything that creates further instability for our staff is not going to help the staff and it's not going to help the organisation as a whole either.

“And that's why if the Secretary of State were to ask me - and that is the process, there's no question of making an application there is no application process as such.

"It's a matter for the Secretary of State to re-appoint a chair or members of bodies and it is very clear in the rules and regulations.”

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