Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the BBC on managing conflicts of interest at BBC Wales.

The Secretary of State meets with the BBC regularly and discusses a range of issues.

The BBC has duties under the Charter to be independent, to act in the public interest and provide impartial services. The BBC is operationally independent of the Government in delivering on those duties, and it is for Ofcom as the BBC’s independent regulator to hold the BBC accountable against these responsibilities. The Secretary of State has been clear that the Government supports a strong independent BBC. In an age of disinformation, the argument for robust and impartial BBC services are stronger than ever.