HC Deb 09 February 1976 vol 905 cc1-3
1. Mr. Neubert

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will make a statement on the recommendation of the Working Party on the Film Industry as set out in Command Paper No. 6372.

The Secretary of State for Trade and President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Peter Shore)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave on 14th January. I have nothing further to add at this time.

Mr. Neubert

Has the Minister especially noted that British films are singularly suitable export material, given the minimum of raw materials required and the abundance of creative talent available? Will he do all possible to give maximum assistance to this aspect of the industry's work?

Mr. Shore

I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman that this country has a splendid talent for making films. We also have the great advantage of speaking a language that is widely understood in many continents. Therefore, there is a considerable opportunity and potential for the British film-making industry.

Mrs. Dunwoody

In the talks which I know he must be planning to hold with the British film industry, will my right hon. Friend be kind enough to make clear that this is probably one of the last chances we shall have of maintaining the industry in its existing form? We hope that there will be a great deal of imagination and new thinking when the new authority is set up, because the audiovisual arts provide one of the most important ways in which we can develop not only the cultural but the commercial interests of this industry.

Mr. Shore

I know that my hon. Friend has followed closely the developments of the British film industry and that in the past she has had ministerial responsibility for it. I think she will agree that the report—which, of course, we have not yet properly studied—is evidence that there has been new thinking that the industry is aware of the urgency of the present situation, and that this may be a most important opportunity to safeguard its future.

Mr. Wyn Roberts

Does the Secretary of State agree that at least part of the answer to the film industry's problems is to encourage the free collaboration that already exists among the film industry and the BBC and ITV companies?

Mr. Shore

Yes, I think that is a very important aspect. Indeed, one of the rather striking features of the report is its reference to the coming together of the rather separate interests in film making—television on the one hand and cinema on the other—and the substantial agreement which they have reached.

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