HC Deb 31 January 1939 vol 343 cc19-20
42. Mr. Mander

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the relations which exist between the Home Office and the British Board of Film Censors and to what extent questions are referred to the Government for guidance?

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sir Samuel Hoare)

The British Board of Film Censors is entirely independent of the Home Office and is not subject to any Government control either directly or indirectly. It is comparatively seldom that the board has occasion to consult with a Government Department, but it is open to the board—as it is to any other independent and unofficial body—to ask for information or advice from any Government Department on matters of doubt or difficulty about which such Department may have special knowledge.

Mr. Mander

Is it not the usual practice of the British Board of Film Censors to submit anything that may be doubtful to the Government Department concerned, for their advice and guidance?

Sir S. Hoare

The usual practice is what I have described.

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