§ 2. Mr. Swinglerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the reduction in the number of cinema seats in Great Britain as a result of 417 cinemas closing in the two years ended December, 1957; and the average annual amount of entertainments tax paid per seat in the last financial year for which figures are available.
Mr. AmoryThere were about 250 thousand fewer cinema seats in December, 1957, than in December, 1955, and 362 fewer cinemas open. In the financial year 1956–57 the average Entertainments Duty per seat was £8 13s. 0d.
§ Mr. SwinglerDo not those figures reveal the gravity of the slump that has ocurred in the cinema trade in the last year or two? If the Chancellor of the Exchequer maintains the present rate of Entertainments Duty, will not it yield him diminishing returns?
Mr. AmoryI have nothing to add to the Answer I have already given. The hon. Gentleman must not expect me to anticipate my Budget statement.
§ Mr. GowerWhile appreciating my right hon. Friend's Answer about his Budget statement, may I ask him, in considering this matter, to take account of the fact that, irrespective of the tax, the cinema is fighting a desperate battle now? Does not he think that this is a very special case?
Mr. H. WilsonWhile not expecting the Chancellor of the Exchequer to anticipate his Budget statement, may I ask him to study what has been said on this matter in past debates when he was not Chancellor of the Exchequer, and to bear in mind particularly the warnings from this side of the House year by year that this state of affairs was inevitable if something were not done?
Mr. AmoryI will take into consideration all relevant factors and I will look back at recent debates on this subject, as the right hon. Gentleman has suggested.
§ 3. Mr. Swinglerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the cost of collecting entertainments tax from cinemas as a percentage of the yield from the tax; and his estimate of the administrative saving which would result from abolishing the tax.
Mr. AmoryPrecise figures are not available, but the cost is of the same order as the average cost for the collection and administration of Customs and Excise duties generally, that is, less than 1 per cent.
§ Mr. SwinglerIf the Chancellor decides between now and Budget day to abolish Entertainments Duty, will he remember that he will not lose all the money, because he might achieve considerable administrative and manpower savings?
§ 38. Mr. Swinglerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his attention has been drawn to the case of the Ritz Cinema, Yiewsley and West Drayton, which has been saved from closure by public subscription in the expectation of the announcement of entertainments tax reduction on Budget day; and if he will take this case into account in framing his Budget proposals.
§ Mr. SwinglerIs the Chancellor aware that this cinema has been saved from closure for the moment by the public-spirited action of citizens in the district, who want to keep open this centre of entertainment? Is he aware that there are many other cinemas in a like position on the margin of closure? Will he ensure that in his Budget statement there is an appropriate response to this public-spirited action?
Mr. AmoryBy alert powers of perception and deduction, I think I can say that I now understand generally the tenor of the hon. Member's views on this matter.