CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS (COLLECTION OF LEVY) (AMENDMENT No. 4) REGULATIONS 1975. (Hansard, 29 October 1975)

§ Lord WINTERBOTTOM
My Lords, I beg to move.

§ Lord AUCKLAND
My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord two questions arising from his statement. First, how is the estimate of cinema attendances to be obtained, particularly in small cinemas, because there is a trend now, as the noble Lord knows, for these three-tier cinemas, which would be very difficult to compute from the small cinemas, which seem to be dying out. Secondly, the noble Lord mentioned the Working Party set up by the Prime Minister. Could he say who is to serve on this Working Party? In view of the present parlous state of the cinema industry, when is it likely to report, and will there be an interim report on this matter?

§ Lord ELTON
My Lords, may I thank the noble Lord for his succinct exposition of these two small, generally speaking, beneficial Orders, and welcome, in principle, the exemption of children's entertainments. May I ask him to confirm that the Orders take account of inflation, so far as exhibitors are concerned, by recognising that it costs more to show films now than it used to do in roughly the order of expense he has declared? That is less than that allowed for in the Orders, but it does not take account of inflation so far as production companies are concerned, although it also costs more to make films at the same rate. The yield from this levy is paid into a fund for the ultimate benefit of the film industry in various guises, and the effect of increasing the exemption rate must be some reduction in that yield, with the result that the sum available to production companies will not rise to the limit of £7 million which the noble Lord has adduced as the ceiling in the first of the Orders which he introduced.
Moreover, on Monday we are to consider a Bill, the Cinematograph Films Bill, of which a principal effect will be to 600 impose still further charges on that film fund, thus increasing the number of recipients without increasing the resources they are to share. I should like, with my noble friend Lord Auckland, to put it to the noble Lord that now would be a suitable time, in consequence of this, at which to review the increasingly common phenomenon of the cinema complex. I refer to establishments which are a cluster of small cinemas created in the place of one big one, and as each cinema is in the same ownership the exhibitor does not necessarily have, in aggregate, fewer seats to sell than he had before the conversion. I believe I am right in saying, although I think my noble friend was not aware of this, that as a result the owner of the three cinemas, perhaps, has trebled the exemption entitlement that he would have had under the old structure, and thus yet further reduced the yield of the levy to the fund. It seems to me that if account is to be taken of the increasing expense of producing films by means of increasing the yield of the levy, it would perhaps be sensible as a preliminary step to look at this development.

§ Lord WINTERBOTTOM
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Elton, has drawn the attention of the House to the fact that on Monday we are to have a rather more extensive debate on certain new proposals for the film industry levy, or the use of the levy. Perhaps it would be at that point that we could go in greater depth into these problems of allocation of resources to various activities of the film industry. By next Monday I am certain we are all going to be much brighter and more perceptive after a good weekend resting.
May I, before I sit down, reply to one point made by the noble Lord, Lord Auckland. Each unit in a multiple cinema is assessed separately for levy purposes and will be subject to minimum takings limits of £700 approved by the regulations. That is a technical point which is cleared out of the way. The Working Party was something about which I was going to say a few words on Monday. It is hoped that it will report towards the end of the year. It seems rather soon, but that is the intention. We are getting on towards the end of the year and the horrors of 601 Christmas are near upon us. Nevertheless, that is what I am informed.
I will note carefully what the noble Lord, Lord Elton, has said about the allocation of these resources, which are limited, and indeed, interestingly enough, seem not to be taking inflation into account to its full extent. As I said in my speech, in every case we are taking less than might have been done if we had indulged in inflation accounting. As a sort of trailer, or advance notice, I think on Monday we might have a rather 602 interesting short debate on the film industry and its finances. I am not trying to wriggle out of answering fundamental points on the industry, on a couple of Orders which are interesting, but which I believe are generally acceptable. On Monday we may perhaps dig a little deeper. I beg to move.