§ Amendments made: No. 30, in page 9, column 3 leave out lines 22 to 24 and insert—
| In section 2, in subsection (1) the words "(as defined in the Cinematograph Act 1952)" and subsection (4).'. |
§ No. 31, in page 9, line 35, column 3 after '3', insert `in Part I'.
§ No. 32, in page 9, line 37, at end insert—
| `1971 c.23. | The Courts Act 1971. | In Schedule 9. in Part I, the entry relatingto section 6 of the Cinematograph Act 1952.'.—[Mr. Peter Lloyd.] |
§ Mr. Peter LloydI beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.
I thank all those who have helped in the passage of the Bill—in the Home Office, in the House and outside it—and particularly my right hon. Friend and my hon. and learned Friend the Ministers of State, Home Office, who have both been very supportive of the measure from its inception and have in turn given clarity and illumination to our debates on Second Reading and in Committee and today.
I have been impressed by the unanimous support for the principle of the Bill shown by hon. Members who have spoken throughout all stages of its consideration; it has been most helpful. The complete absence of partisan attitudes, although plenty of independence of mind, has made the experience a refreshing one.
I direct my thanks especially to the hon. Member for Halifax (Dr. Summerskill), who has been searchingly supportive in defending me and my measure against encroaching Government legislation. The hon. Lady told me last night that she would be in the Chamber for only 1127 part of the morning. She regretted very much that an unavoidable engagement would take her away. She wrote to me to that effect when she left the Chamber. I wish to place on record the fact that she has taken a great interest in the Bill. She has been extremely helpful in guiding it towards the statute book and in raising constructive and important matters.
I do not claim that the Bill is ambitious. It does not seek to offer comprehensive answers to the considerable problems of freedom and morality that are raised periodically in the House and outside. If I had to criticise the content of any of the speeches which have been made during our debates, it would be on the ground that too much seems to be expected of the Bill. It was designed to meet several problems which have arisen in the workings of the cinema licensing system, which has operated for many years. The legislation upon which that system is based dates back to 1909. It was modified in 1952 and it was only to be expected more than 30 years later, with the technological progress that has taken place, that it would be considered highly desirable to make further changes.
One of the main aims of the Bill is to bring the Cinematograph Acts into the video age. That is something that rightly worried my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Mr. Farr). A central aim of the Bill is to ensure that Parliament's intentions in its earlier pieces of legislation cannot be flouted because an exhibitor is using video equipment rather than a conventional film projector. That is one of the major reasons for bringing the Bill to the House.
Such public attention as the Bill has received has been concentrated upon another aspect, and that is quite understandable. Commercial video exhibitions to large audiences are not yet—I emphasise "yet"—commonplace. However, the blatant evasion of licensing control by the so-called cinema clubs has been increasingly noticeable in central London and in a few other major cities. The system of cinema licensing which governs the exhibition of films is widely acknowledged to be fair and to reflect the standards which are generally acceptable in society.
I said something on Second Reading about the nature of the material that is shown in clubs. But now I will confine myself to emphasising that the existence of those clubs makes nonsense of the system under which the legitimate cinema is regulated by laws passed by Parliament.
Cinema licensing is not only a mechanism for the censoring of films. It is equally concerned with the physical safety of those who attend cinemas. The provision of adequate fire precautions is a condition upon which local authorities will insist before licensing a cinema. Frequently there are inadequate safeguards for the members of what are presently unlicensed cinema clubs, which are often set up in cramped back rooms or cellars that are reached by passing up or down narrow staircases. I am sure that no one wishes to see the horrors of the Dublin discotheque fire re-enacted in one of these clubs.
The exemption of the clubs from the normal licensing requirements is an anomaly arising out of the drafting of the Cinematograph Act 1952. In a commendable attempt to ensure that bona fide film societies such as those run by film enthusiasts would not be caught by provisions 1128 intended to regulate the commercial cinema, the Act provided that exhibitions to which the public are admitted without payment, are exempt from regulation.
However, the abuse of the concession by commercial operators is not a particularly easy matter to remedy in legislative terms, as we have found during our debates in the House and in Committee. The owners and managers of the clubs have shown themselves to be extremely adept at evading the requirements of the law. A commercial cinema may organise itself as a club offering immediate membership to prospective patrons and thereby claiming exemption from the licensing requirement. If that loophole is blocked there is a risk that patrons will be allowed in free, but paying a disguised entry fee in the shape of grossly inflated charges for ice cream or confectionery or for the privilege of hanging up their coats.
The Bill will alter that present unsatisfactory state of affairs and will guard against new abuses by introducing a new test. If the exhibition is organised for private gain, it will not be exempt from the licensing requirements laid down in present legislation. However, there may be circumstances in which the prosecution will find it difficult to prove that a given exhibition was promoted for private gain.
One possibility that the Bill specifically counters is that a non-profit making front company may be set up which takes money from the public for admission to a film show and which forwards that money to the real organiser under the guise of payment for the facilities used. In that case the front company may try to claim that the exhibition has not been promoted for private gain.
That example may appear to be far-fetched, but I am concerned that the Bill should be watertight, unlike its predecessors. That means that, wherever it is possible to anticipate the dodges that will be used, the prosecution should be given the means of dealing with them.
Accordingly clause 2, which was discussed at considerable length in Committee, takes great care to specify the circumstances in which an exhibition will be considered to have been promoted for private gain. Those changes will be particularly useful for the area in which my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Griffiths) is interested. They are useful not merely for the courts but for making it easier and more straightforward for authorities at the sharp end, such as the police, to take the action necessary to enforce the law.
The redefinition of cinemas that will be subject to cinematograph licensing is the nub of the Bill. After the Bill comes into force, private cinema clubs, organised for profit, will need to be licensed by the local authority in the same way as any other commercial cinema. Assuming that the owner or manager is successful in obtaining a licence, he will be subject to the regulations and conditions made by the local authority, whatever they may be. It will be for the local authority to decide, as it does at present in relation to other cinemas, what conditions it should attach to the licence in respect of the sort of film that may be shown.
On Second Reading the reaction of several hon. Members to the proposals was that they were admirable in principle, but the methods of enforcement that were available and the sanctions against breaches of the rules required close scrutiny. It was said in that debate and in Committee that the sex industry was highly lucrative. As I said when I moved the amendments to Clause 6, I accept that it is necessary to ensure that the courts have adequate 1129 powers to deter potential offenders. As a result of those amendments, the more serious offences under the Act will now be punishable on summary conviction by a fine of anything up to £10,000.
With the exception of the penalties provided in the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill for breach of the regulations concerning sex shops, such a high fine for offences triable only summarily is unparalleled. It reflects a determination, which has been supported by the Government, to ensure that it will not be financially advantageous to flout the licensing laws. If the offences are continually repeated, it will be possible to proceed by injunction with the sanction of prison as a last resort.
The Bill also takes the opportunity to rationalise powers of enforcement. Clearly a balance needs to be struck between the need to ensure that licence conditions and regulations are being complied with and the right of legitimate and scrupulous cinemas to go about their business without too much interference that was stressed by my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway). I believe that the Bill succeeds quite well in striking that balance. Three different bodies have responsibilities for enforcement—the police, officials of the local authority in its capacity as a licensing body, and the fire service. The police, local authorities and fire officials will have general powers of inspection in respect of licensed premises where an exhibition is about to be given.
In addition, a fire officer will be able to inspect licensed premises—I return to the concern expressed by my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Mr. Proctor)—on giving not less than 24 hours' notice of an intention to ascertain whether the terms of the licence are being complied with. Entry to unlicensed premises will require the police or licensing authority to obtain a warrant. As is usual with other powers of this type, it will be a criminal offence to obstruct any person in exercising these powers of enforcement. I believe that no scrupulous cinema operator will find the powers onerous and that they are the minimum necessary for effective enforcement against the less scrupulous.
The final aspect of the Bill to which I should like to draw attention is the revised procedures governing applications for licences and appeals against licensing decisions. The House agreed earlier that fire authorities should be given a clear opportunity to comment when applications are received. I believe that this is a proper recognition of the important role of the cinema licensing system in ensuring fire safety.
Clauses 3 and 4 make a number of other specific reforms. It has long been the case that a licence holder who appeals against revocation of his licence may continue to have the benefit of the licence until the appeal is determined. There is at present no such provision for a licence holder whose application for renewal is refused. There seems to be no good reason for this difference of approach. My Bill will rectify the anomaly by providing that, if a person appeals against refusal to renew his licence, the licence shall remain in force pending the outcome of the appeal. This small but salutary change has been recommended by the licensing authorities and the Cinematograph Exhibitors Association.
Similarly, clause 4 provides for the automatic extension of a licence pending and during an appeal against refusal to renew or transfer a licence. Several hon. Members, 1130 especially the hon. Member for Isle of Ely (Mr. Freud) in Committee, were concerned that these provisions might be exploited. I think it would be helpful to say why I believe these provisions will not have this result. Subsections (3) and (4) of clause 4 that provide for the continuation of licences pending appeals apply only to those premises that have already been issued with a licence. They will not therefore assist the sex cinema proprietor who currently runs unlicensed premises and who applies for a licence. Nor will they assist any person who attempts to ignore the licensing requirement or who breaches a licence condition.
At the beginning of my remarks, I said that this was not a particularly ambitious Bill. Nevertheless, I believe, especially from the comments that have been made outside and during its passage through the House, that it will be widely welcomed. I am encouraged in that belief by today's debate. The Bill will form an addition to what is already a complex body of legisation. That has been made clear in the exchanges today. A complex system of legislation now regulates the cinema trade. In the interests of simplicity and ease of reference, I am glad that my right hon. Friend the Minister has repeated that, with all convenient and deliberate speed, a consolidating measure will be brought to the statute book. In the meantime, I commend the Bill to the House.
§ Mr. Neil ThorneI have great pleasure in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr. Lloyd) on his Bill. I am no great authority on the matter, but it seems to me an extremely complex Bill for a private Member to have successfully steered thus far through the House. I am sure that it is an important measure, and it has received support from both sides of the House. I was especially heartened by the response of my right hon. Friend the Minister and I believe that that augurs well for its future.
Safety is an important issue and although many of us would wish to see elements in the Bill related to other aspects, such as pornography, the question of safety probably overrides everything else. Undoubtedly many of these quasi cinema operators tend to take advantage of various parts of the law to ensure that they can skirt round the requirements that are generally applied in public places. The strict rules that we have laid down ever since the great fire of 1666 have been utilised to ensure the safety of the public, especially in central London.
Although we are aware that many operators find those stringent regulations extremely costly, in the vast majority of cases they are very necessary. In cinemas, which are largely dark places, some difficulty would arise if the public could not easily find their way out during a fire or some other emergency.
However, I wish to add a word of caution, because we are all well aware that much money is involved in this business, especially in Soho. As soon as such a worthy measure is introduced, rather as with taxation measures, we find a portion of the legal profession turning its attention to ways of getting round the new legislation. I hope that it is not beyond the wit of the Home Office to observe the matter continuously so that if any problem should arise it can be dealt with fairly quickly, perhaps in the amending legislation that has been promised. However, I understand from the hon. and learned Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Lyons) that that may be only a consolidating measure rather than a genuine new 1131 legislative measure. If that is the case, there would be no such opportunity for us to make good any loopholes that the skilful lawyer may manage to find in the Bill.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyI appreciate my hon. Friend's concern. However, he should agree that there is a clear test of whether an organisation or establishment is licensed. That is one of the most advantageous parts of the Bill. The only way in which people can get round it is by claiming that they come in one of the exempt categories. That would become much more difficult than at present, where there seem to be two dangers. The first is the possibility of corruption and the second is that corruption arises because of definitions of pornography or obscenity. The Bill at least has the advantage of bringing in the clear test—is there a licence, or not?
§ Mr. ThorneI am grateful to my hon. Friend. I did not wish to give the impression that I was not in favour of the Bill's provisions. They are admirable and go as far as any hon. Member in the Chamber today would consider possible in closing all the known loopholes. However, from my knowledge of taxation and other matters, I am aware of how hard people work to try to get round regulations as soon as they are brought in.
I was merely trying to draw to my right hon. Friend's attention a matter of which I am sure he is already aware, that because of the vast sums of money involved in the operation of unlicensed cinemas and what they have to offer, as soon as the Bill is passed there will undoubtedly be lawyers and others who will do everything possible to find a loophole.
I am delighted that, as far as possible, my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham has closed the known loopholes, but I should not like to think that we would close our minds to the possibility that some loophole will be found, because undoubtedly that can and does happen. If it does happen, I hope that my right hon. Friend will readily bring forward some measure to make it not worth while.
I mention this matter at some length, because I feel that if at this stage we can say that that is our intention it will be less productive for people to spend a lot of money on expensive legal advice to discover ways in which they can get round the legislation. If my right hon. Friend can give the assurance that to do so will give such people only a short-term advantage, that will deter them from even bothering to look. In view of the way that my hon. Friend's Bill has been received, it is clear that that would be the wish of the House. I hope that my right hon. Friend will be able to give such an undertaking.
§ Mr. Edward LyonsI also congratulate the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Lloyd) on having got his Bill thus far. A major result of the Bill when it reaches the statute book will be to extend censorship. The British Board of Film Censors will take control of the sex film clubs. I am unhappy about the extension of censorship generally. When I first heard about the Bill I was exceedingly uneasy. I was driven to support it because it seemed to me that hard pornography—the attitude that sexual satisfaction could be derived by inflicting great cruelty on women—was becoming so prevalent that the clubs had to be brought within the remit of the British Board of Film Censors. It is not a proud day when one 1132 extends censorship, but it seems to me that the reality of the situation demands that we have some standards of conduct for this sort of situation. That is why the Bill has received all-party support on Second Reading and since.
§ Mr. ProctorI join my colleagues in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr. Lloyd) on the introduction of this timely Bill and on his skill in piloting it through all its stages to Third Reading.
This is a big Bill for a private Member to introduce, with its 10 clauses and two schedules. Its impact on society will have a narrow frontage but will be important. As has been said by my hon. Friend, it extends the 1909 and 1952 Acts. It is 30 years since the House addressed itself to legislation in this area.
The need for the Bill was outlined by my hon. Friend under two headings. First, he referred to the new technological developments that have taken place in the last 30 years or so, particularly with the invention of video. Secondly, he referred to the emergence of the distasteful, bogus private clubs which have mushroomed in the past 10 or 15 years, particularly in London and our other big cities. Therefore, those twin developments were the motivating force behind the legislation.
My hon. Friend the Member for Fareham made it clear that he did not seek to catch, or make life more difficult for, genuine organisations, such as film clubs and societies. Many such clubs and societies are popular in my constituency and, no doubt, in the constituencies of all hon. Members. My hon. Friend has tried to ensure that he would not catch the genuine film clubs and societies in the strictures of his licensing scheme and we are grateful to him for having skilfully avoided that pitfall.
My hon. Friend the Member for Fareham has introduced a licensing scheme. As my hon. Friend the Member for Woolwich, West (Mr. Bottomley) rightly said, the possession or non-possession of a licence is at the heart of the Bill and all else flows from it. My hon. Friend the Member for Fareham has considered more than the licensing question and we are all grateful to him for that. He has paid particular attention to the fire service, and that is important. It is vital to consider the safety of cinemas, particularly as there have mushroomed in London certain clubs that tend, by their nature, to be small and to have been set up at as low a cost as possible in order to extract the maximum profit in the shortest period of time. Cutting corners on safety may be the hallmark of some of those bogus private clubs.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyDoes not my hon. Friend agree that it is a question not only of the establishments in the centre of London and round the main railway stations of our big cities but also—and even more important—a question of ensuring that operators do not have a chance to move into areas such as Basildon and Eltham to spread their attractive filth and dangerous conditions? We must ensure that they do not attract schoolchildren, students and ordinary people who, if the opportunity exists, may occasionally be tempted into these obscene firetraps.
§ Mr. ProctorMy hon. Friend is quite right. It is not only physical safety that is important, but moral and mental safety too. We are all grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham for his safety provisions. However, in addition the Bill makes provision for 1133 increasing the fines on summary conviction. It has been pointed out that, under the 1952 Act, the maximum fine is now a mere £200. We are grateful to my hon. Friend for having given way to the clear pressure on Second Reading and in Committee to increase the maximum fine on summary conviction for serious offences from the £1,000 that was in the Bill on Second Reading to the £10,000 that was inserted on Report. That is much more sensible and more in keeping with public feeling on these matters, and much more in keeping with the economic climate of the day.
I am therefore delighted to support my hon. Friend's Bill and I congratulate him on having, as a private Member, almost placed on the statute book such an excellent measure.
§ Mr. FarrI, too, wish to support my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr. Lloyd), and to congratulate him, particularly——
§ It being half-past Two o'clock, the debate stood adjourned.
§ Debate to be resumed upon Friday 7 May.