§ 7. Mr. Swinglerasked the President of the Board of Trade what progress has been made towards securing voluntary agreement in the film industry for the continuance of the British Film Production Fund.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftAll the sections of the film industry concerned are aware of the statement I made in answer to Questions on 10th March; and we must now allow them a reasonable period for discussion.
§ Mr. SwinglerHow long does the Minister expect to permit these negotiations to go on? Is he not aware that they have now been going on for well over six months, and will he say, having given notice that he will introduce a statutory arrangement, whether he intends to do that before the end of the present Parliamentary Session?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftAll I will say at the moment is that as I only made a statement in answer to Questions on 10th March, I think it reasonable that the various sections of this industry should have time to study that statement and to discuss the matter together.