HC Deb 24 March 1955 vol 538 cc2256-7
26. Mr. Rankin

asked the President of the Board of Trade the total attendances at cinemas for January and February of this year, and the attendances in the same two months of 1954.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

Information is not available about monthly attendances at cinemas. The latest available figures relate to the quarter October to December, 1954, when total attendances were 291 millions, compared with 306 millions in the corresponding quarter of 1953.

Mr. Rankin

Will the right hon. Gentleman direct the attention of the Chancellor to the serious tendency revealed by those figures, and urge him to do what he can to arrest that tendency by reducing Entertainments Duty?

Mr. Thorneycroft

All these figures are available to my right hon. Friend.