Sian Doyle, the former chief executive of Welsh-language channel S4C, has written to the UK government’s culture secretary warning of a “culture of fear, secrecy and excessive control” at the channel under its current chairman, Rhodri Williams. Doyle was sacked last week in a unanimous decision by S4C’s board members. Her letter to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer questioned the decision to investigate allegations of bullying, made by the Bectu union, using law firm Capital Law. Doyle claimed she had previously raised concerns about governance with the department for culture, media and sport (DCMS).
Doyle also suggested that she had been unfairly dismissed and said she would initiate legal proceedings. She said that she had achieved many successes while at S4C but had been subjected to “sinister attempts to silence” her, including “threatening text messages from unknown phone numbers late at night, anonymous freedom of information requests” asking who was staying at her home and “private and confidential details” about her health “leaked to the media”. In response, the DCMS stated it could not comment on individual staffing matters.
S4C issued a statement last week, apologising for the “stress and anguish” caused by behaviours in the workplace and confirming action needed to be taken. Delyth Jewell, who chairs the Welsh parliament’s culture, communications, Welsh language, sport and international relations committee, said allegations about the leadership of S4C were concerning and that the committee wanted to hear from the board as soon as possible.
The UK government said it would respond to an S4C freedom of information request it acknowledged receiving earlier this year, confirming any relevant information would be released after mid-December once a “public-interest test” had been conducted. No further comment has been made at present
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