Erbyn hyn, mae sawl Aelod sydd wedi siarad wedi croesawu cynnwys y siarter drafft, y cam ymlaen o’r siarter cyn hynny a chynnyrch y sgyrsiau a’r trafodaethau adeiladol sydd yn amlwg wedi bod. Ond, wrth inni graffu ar y siarter, rwy’n credu ei bod hi’n werth cofio hefyd fod y siarter yn ei le am 11 mlynedd, sef dwy ran o dair o’r cyfnod ers i ni gael Cynulliad yng Nghymru. Hynny yw, mae yn ei le am gyfnod hir o’n blaenau ni. Yn y cyfnod diwethaf, mae disgwyliadau pobl yng Nghymru am yr hyn y maen nhw am ei weld oddi wrth y BBC wedi newid ac wedi cynyddu, ac mae’n rhaid inni hefyd rhagweld hynny’n digwydd, rwy’n credu, dros y cyfnod nesaf. Felly, byddwn i’n hoffi gweld y BBC a Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Gyfunol yn edrych ar y siarter fel rhyw fath o sylfaen i adeiladu arno a chynnig mwy o gefnogaeth dros amser i’r hyn y mae disgwyliadau Cymru yn mynd i alw amdanyn nhw.

Ambell sylwad penodol: mae’r system o apwyntio cynrychiolydd penodol i Gymru ar y prif fwrdd yn amlwg yn beth calonogol iawn—bod hynny’n digwydd ar y cyd. Mae pobl wedi sôn eisoes am rôl y Llywodraeth a rôl ehangach y Cynulliad. Ond, mae hi hefyd yn werth cadw mewn cof, rwy’n credu, fod y broses yn y siarter o apwyntio cadeirydd y bwrdd yn dal i fod, ar un lefel, yn nwylo Ysgrifennydd Gwladol yr Adran dros Ddiwylliant, y Cyfryngau a Chwaraeon yn San Steffan, am resymau, efallai, sydd yn ddealladwy. Ond, mae’r rôl honno yn rôl ar draws y Deyrnas Gyfunol yn gyffredinol, yn cynnwys Lloegr, Cymru, yr Alban a Gogledd Iwerddon. Felly, dros amser, byddwn yn hoffi gweld y penderfyniad hwnnw yn cael ei wneud hefyd mewn rhyw fath o ymgynghoriad â’r cenhedloedd datganoledig ym Mhrydain. Rwy’n credu y byddai hynny’n addas o ystyried sut mae datganoli’n newid a rôl eang y person sy’n gwneud y swydd honno.

A number of Members have spoken already about the enhanced role of Ofcom taking on a new responsibility as the regulator of the BBC. Ofcom has said that it’s focused on getting ready for those responsibilities in April. It will be required to devise an operating licence that makes it clear that it requires audiences in Wales, as in all parts of the UK, to be well served.

The Plaid Cymru motion talks about the accountability of the new regulator to Wales, which I would absolutely endorse, but I also think that we want to hear from Ofcom about what that means in practice, in terms of its own operations and its own strategy for delivering that in a meaningful way. It has a presence in Wales. How does it envisage that changing? Bethan Jenkins has referred to the very positive development of a Welsh representative on the main Ofcom board. Is that the extent of it? Is that sufficient? I think we want to hear that and there will be, hopefully, an opportunity when Ofcom comes before the committee to explore some of those issues in more detail.

The issue of governance is fundamental to the issue of independence, and others have spoken about that, as is the question of funding. I think one of the most dispiriting things that I saw in the last charter period was the ability of the UK Government to effectively require the BBC to use its own funding to pay for some of its policy objectives—for example, in terms of the licence fee for older people and some digital projects. I don’t think that there’s anything in the charter that would prevent that happening in the next period, which is a matter of concern.

The sums that we’re talking about are multiples of hundreds of millions of pounds, and the reason that’s important is that we’ve talked about the shortfall in funding for English-language programming in Wales, which is a fraction of the sorts of sums that are lost to the BBC through those sorts of decisions. So, it is a relevant consideration for us, and I would like to see consideration of that in the charter and, in fact, a sort of ring fence for the budget to Wales, if that can be achieved.

Finally, on the question of portrayal, which many of us have come back to, there is a beefing-up, if you like, in the charter of the obligation to reflect the diverse communities of the nations of the UK in output, which is obviously, I think, welcome to us all on two levels: the question of diversity and the question of regional and national representation are related, but different things, and I think both commitments are very important. This is one area where I think I would like to see the commitments fleshed out and become progressively more robust over the period of the charter. We want the BBC to reflect Wales to Wales, but importantly, we want it to reflect Wales to the world. This isn’t just a question of giving Wales what Wales feels it’s due; it needs to be a broader view of that. Actually, part of the BBC’s role is to represent and see as an asset, for all parts of the UK, a proper reflection of different communities and different nations. It’s not, as it were, a debt owed to Wales; it’s a much broader set of obligations across the UK, and I think it would be good to see that reflected. We’ve got the broad principles in the charter, but I think I’d like to see the BBC offering up some specifics to build on that to make that a reality.