§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what information he has on the average quarterly revenue per cinema in 1967, 1977, 1985 and 1987;
(2) what information he has on the box office revenue (a) inclusive of value-added tax, and (b) exclusive of value-added tax from cinema admissions in the first quarter of 1967, 1977, 1985 and 1987;
(3) what information he has on how many cinema sites there were in operation in the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 1967, 1977, 1985 and 1987;
(4) what information he has as to how many cinema screens there were in operation in the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 1967, 1977, 1985 and 1987;
(5) what information he has as to how many admissions there were to cinemas in the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 1967, 1977, 1985 and 1987.
§ Mr. ButcherThe available information is given in the table: 725W
1967 1977 1985 11987 Average quarterly revenue per cinema (£ thousand)2 3 8 21 48 90 Box office revenue (£ million)2 4 14 21 32 30 Number of cinema sites4 1,736 1,004 655 277 Number of cinema screens>4 5 n.a. 1,510 1,238 706 Admissions (millions)4 66 26 17 16 n.a. = not available. 1 Information prior to 1987 is based on statutory returns from licensed cinemas in Great Britain. 1987 figures refer to returns from a voluntary panel of cinema exhibitors in the United Kingdom. 2 Figures for box office revenues are only available inclusive of value-added tax (VAT) for 1977 and 1985, and exclusive of VAT for 1987. VAT was not levied in 1967. 3 Information for 1985 is based on the first quarter of the year only, that for 1987 on the first half of the year. 4 Box office revenue and admission figures for the first quarters of 1967, and 1977 are a quarter of the annual figures. The numbers of cinema sites and screens for these years refer to licensed cinemas open at the end of the year and any open for at least 26 weeks during the year but temporarily closed at the end of the year. 5 Information on the number of cinema screens was not collected until 1969, when there were 22 more screens than sites. The difference between the number of sites and screens in 1967—will have been small.
§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has as to how many commercial films have been made in the United Kingdom in each year since 1977.
§ Mr. ButcherBefore the passing of the Films Act 1985, British films released for public exhibition in cinemas had to be registered by my Department. The 1985 Act, however, removed these registration requirements with effect from 23 May 1985 and there are no official statistics of films since that date. The information I have, which does not include training, industrial, scientific or other "corporate" films, is as follows:
726W
Registered British Films under previous Films Acts Over 72 minutes 33⅓ to 72 minutes Under 33⅓ minutes 1977 42 16 64 1978 51 8 72 1979 40 16 87
Over 72 minutes 33⅓ to 72 minutes Under 33⅓ minutes 1980 41 16 66 1981 32 9 73 1982 29 4 51 1983 36 3 49 1984 37 3 26 11985 18 1 7 1 Period from 1 January 1985 to 23 May 1985 only.