Ysgrifennwn i gefnogi’r argymhelliad i sefydlu Awdurdod Cyfathrebu a Darlledu Cysgodol i Gymru, a wnaed yn Adroddiad Doel Jones, ‘Dyfodol Newydd i Ddarlledu a Chyfathrebu yng Nghymru’, a gyhoeddwyd ym mis Awst 2023.

Mae’r Panel Arbenigol a benodwyd gan Lywodraeth Cymru i ystyried y posibilrwydd o sefydlu Awdurdod o’r fath wedi gwneud achos manwl, yn seiliedig ar dystiolaeth. Roedd yn tynnu ar wybodaeth a dadansoddiadau gan ystod eang o randdeiliaid a chorff eang o ymchwil academaidd o ansawdd uchel. Rhaid canmol ansawdd a manylder y gwaith ac eglurder ac ymarferoldeb yr argymhellion pwyllog.

Deallwn fod pryderon gan y darlledwyr wrth wynebu’r camau cyntaf hyn tuag at ddatblygu egin eco-system cyfathrebu i Gymru er mwyn gwasanaethu anghenion penodol y wlad. Credwn y dylai profiad a sylfaen dystiolaeth eich panel arbenigol dawelu’r meddyliau hynny. 

Rydyn ni felly’n cefnogi’r cyfiawnhad craidd y tu ôl i’r argymhelliad canlynol: 'Rydyn ni’n credu ei bod yn hanfodol bwysig bod gan Lywodraeth Cymru gorff i droi ato yng Nghymru am arweiniad ar lywio’r newidiadau sydd ar y gorwel. Byddai’r corff hwnnw’n cryfhau rheoleiddio ac atebolrwydd ac yn dod â’r atebolrwydd hwnnw’n nes at adref.'

Mae hyn yn arbennig o wir o ystyried y newidiadau sydyn ym maes cyfathrebu, y doreth o gyfryngau cymdeithasol a deallusrwydd artiffisial ac, yn benodol goblygiadau’r Ddeddf Diogelwch Ar-lein (2023), a’r Bil Cyfryngau Drafft sydd bellach gerbron Senedd y Deyrnas Gyfunol.

Yn ogystal, mae pryderon eang, sy’n cael eu crybwyll yn yr adroddiad, am effaith y newidiadau hyn ar newyddiaduraeth er budd y cyhoedd, rhaglenni am Gymru a darpariaeth Gymraeg, yn enwedig S4C. Fel y dywed yr adroddiad, mae angen dybryd am Awdurdod a fyddai’n 'creu canolbwynt ar gyfer darlledu a chyfathrebu yng Nghymru ac ar gyfer Cymru, a… denu rhanddeiliaid allweddol, a phobl Cymru, i gymryd rhan mewn sgwrs strategol'.

Mae cefnogaeth gref i ddatganoli yng Nghymru gan iddo ddod â llywodraethiant yn nes at bobl y wlad. Mae cyfathrebu’n hanfodol i gyflwr y drafodaeth gyhoeddus, i’n diwylliant ac i dwf cymuned amrywiol a llewyrchus. Bydd sefydlu Awdurdod Darlledu a Chyfathrebu Cysgodol annibynnol i Gymru, yn dilyn y broses ofalus a phwyllog a argymhellir yn yr adroddiad, yn meithrin hyn ac yn gam arall gwerthfawr yn y broses ddatganoli barhaus.

Bu tonnau olynol o drafodaeth gyhoeddus am y berthynas rhwng Cymru a chyfathrebu ers y dauddegau. Mae’r rhain wedi amrywio o’r rhai am y BBC ac ITV yn Adroddiadau Beveridge a Pilkington o’r pedwardegau a’r chwedegau, yr alwad am ddatganoli darlledu gan yr ymgyrch trawsbleidiol Senedd i Gymru yn y pumdegau, i’r dadleuon dros S4C yn y saithdegau, i'r materion cyfredol a achosir gan amgylchedd cyfathrebu sy'n newid yn gyflym. Arweiniodd y trafodaethau hyn at ymddangosiad cam wrth gam y system ddarlledu bresennol yng Nghymru. Mae'r adroddiad yn gadarn o fewn y traddodiad hwn ac yn eirioli’n rymus, a huawdl, dros yr hyn sy'n angenrheidiol i wella'r sefyllfa.

Rydyn ni’n falch felly, 70 mlynedd ers y symudiad trawsbleidiol hwnnw, bod gennym Lywodraeth yng Nghymru bellach sy’n cymryd camau tuag at weledigaeth yr ymgyrchwyr hynny.

Sefydlu'r Awdurdod yw'r cam unigol pwysicaf a mwyaf diriaethol y gall eich llywodraeth ei gymryd i wireddu eich cred y 'dylai pwerau darlledu a chyfathrebu gael eu datganoli i’r Senedd [yng Nghymru]'. Mae'r gostyngiad diweddar yng nghynrychiolaeth Cymru yn Senedd y Deyrnas Gyfunol yn golygu bod angen gweithredu ar fwy o frys byth.

Hyderwn y bydd Llywodraeth Cymru yn gweithredu argymhelliad yr adroddiad i sefydlu’r Awdurdod cysgodol fel dull i ddod â pholisi cyfathrebu yn nes at y bobl yng Nghymru y mae’n effeithio ar eu bywydau, o ddydd i ddydd.

We write in support of the recommendation to establish a Shadow Broadcasting and Communication Authority for Wales, made in the Doel Jones Report, ‘A New Future For Broadcasting and Communications in Wales’, published in August 2023. 

The Expert Panel appointed by the Welsh Government to explore the possibility of establishing such an Authority, has produced a detailed, evidence based case. It drew on information and analysis from   a broad range of stakeholders and a substantial body of high-quality academic research. It should be commended for the quality and precision of this work and the clarity, caution and workability of its recommendations.

We understand that broadcasters will have concerns when faced with these first steps towards developing an embryonic communication eco-system for Wales to cater for the country's specific needs. However, the experience and evidence base used by your panel should reassure and put minds at ease.

We support the core justification behind the recommendation that: 'it is fundamentally important that the Welsh Government has a body in Wales to turn to for guidance on navigating the changes on the horizon. That body would strengthen regulation and accountability and bring that accountability closer to home.'

This is especially true given the rapid changes in the communication environment, with the proliferation of social media and artificial intelligence and, in particular the implications of the Online Safety Act (2023), and the Draft Media Bill now before the UK Parliament.  

In addition, there are widespread concerns, explored in the report, about the impact of these changes on public interest journalism, programming about Wales and Welsh language provision, in particular S4C. There is a pressing need for an Authority which would ‘create a focal point for broadcasting and communications in Wales, and … draw key stakeholders and the people of Wales into a strategic conversation’. 

Devolution enjoys strong support in Wales as it has brought governance closer to the people of the country. Communications are vital to the health of public debate in Wales, to Welsh culture and to the growth of a diverse and flourishing community. Establishing an Independent Shadow Broadcasting and Communications Authority for Wales, following the careful and cautious process recommended in the report, will foster this and be a valuable, incremental step in the ongoing process of devolution. 

There have been successive waves of public discussion about the relationship between Wales and communications since the 1920s. These have ranged from those about the BBC and ITV in the Beveridge and Pilkington Reports of the 1950s and 1960s, the call for the devolution of broadcasting by the cross-party Parliament for Wales campaign in the 1950s, through the debates over S4C in the 1970s, to the current issues posed by a rapidly changing communications environment.  These discussions gave rise to the step by step emergence of the current system of broadcasting in Wales. The report is firmly within this tradition and is a powerful, and eloquent, advocate of what is necessary to improve the situation.

We are therefore proud that, 70 years since that cross-party movement, we now have a Government in Wales that is taking steps towards the vision of those campaigners.

Establishing the Authority is the single most important and tangible step your government can take to deliver on your belief that 'broadcasting and communication powers should be devolved to the Senedd'. The recent reduction of Welsh representation in the UK Parliament makes acting now even more urgent.

We trust that the Welsh Government will deliver on the report’s recommendation to establish the shadow Authority as the way to bring communications policy closer to the people in Wales, on whose lives it impacts, day by day.