Fired S4C CEO pushes back
November 27, 2023
Sian Doyle, the fired chief executive of Welsh-language public broadcaster S4C, has criticised her dismissal by chairman Rhodri Williams as “an unprecedented lack of governance for a public body”.
Doyle was sacked following an investigation into allegations of “bullying and a toxic culture” at the channel. Doyle released a statement on November 24th in which she called on the Welsh government to intervene. “The question that S4C’s Board, the Secretary of State for DCMS Lucy Frazer, and the Welsh Government now need to answer is this: is it right that a public body committed to such a high standard of governance still be led by the current Chair?”
She criticised the manner of her dismissal, saying: “I was dismissed by letter, without notice, without a meeting, without seeing a copy of the Capital Law report or any evidence, without a right of appeal, and without proper grounds.”
Doyle took up the post of chief exec at S4C in January 2022, said: “I joined S4C because members of the Board persuaded me to come out of retirement after a 30-year international career to create positive change. My mandate as CEO was to take S4C’s extraordinary programming and the Welsh language to the world, to prepare S4C for a digital future, and to transform the organisation […] I am very proud of what S4C has achieved under my leadership.”
Capital Law was appointed by the Chair in May to conduct an independent external investigation after the Bectu union described a “a culture of fear” at S4C.
The S4C Authority, which oversees the channel, said: “Having received detailed legal advice, members of the S4C Authority made the difficult but unanimous decision to terminate the employment of the chief executive.”