§ Dr. HowellsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much S4C will receive from her Department in the current year; and how much it received in the previous year. [20718]
§ Mr. Sproat[holding answer 18 March 1997]: S4C received £68,416,000 from my Department in 1996 and there is provision of £73,300,00 for the current year.
§ Dr. HowellsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what restrictions and requirements are placed on S4C as regards the language of programmes made using public funding provided by her Department. [20717]
§ Mr. Sproat[holding answer 18 March 1997]: The Welsh Fourth Channel Authority receives public funding to fulfil its function which is set out in section 57 of the Broadcasting Act 1990: to provide a television broadcasting service of high quality for reception wholly or mainly in Wales. Under that Act, S4C is required to ensure that a substantial proportion of its programmes broadcast between 6.30 pm and 10 pm are in Welsh.
§ Dr. HowellsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many of the new digital channels available to S4C will be used for broadcasting in(a) English and (b) Welsh. [20547]
§ Mr. Sproat[holding answer 18 March 1997]: The Government have offered S4C guaranteed capacity of half of the third multiplex in Wales. S4C is required to simulcast the Welsh language programmes in its peak analogue service as part of its digital service, but is not otherwise constrained as to the language in which its digital services are broadcast.
§ Dr. HowellsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if the chairman or any of the members of S4C have declared interests or shareholdings in any independent production company. [20715]
§ Mr. Sproat[holding answer 18 March 1997]: The chairman and members of the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority are required under the Broadcasting Act 1990 to declare any interests or shareholdings they may have in any independent production company. None has declared such an interest.
§ Dr. HowellsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what monitoring her Department carries out of the use of the public funds provided to S4C; and what assessment it has made of the use of those funds in the past year. [20719]
§ Mr. Sproat[holding answer 18 March 1997]: It is a long standing policy that broadcasting services are independent of Government editorially and, to the greatest 661W extent possible, in economic and regulatory terms. It is for the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority to regulate S4C and for S4C's management to supervise the efficiency of the broadcaster. There is a memorandum of understanding between my Department and S4C, the primary purpose of which is to ensure that S4C's systems of financial management are sufficient to safeguard public funds. The actual management of those funds is a matter for the authority.