§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Prime Minister what proposals she has for the British film industry; and if she will make a statement on her proposals to meet leaders of the film industry.
§ The Prime MinisterI met leading figures from the film production industry on Friday 15 June to discuss their proposals for taking advantage of the opportunities now facing the industry. The Government agreed to provide £5 million over the next three years to provide pump-priming finance to support European co-production; the Department of Trade and Industry would set up a working party to examine the structure of the industry and how to attract greater private sector finance into film production, and to report back in the autumn; the industry would explore what changes it suggests to the tax regime for film production and report to Treasury Ministers over the next few months; we would continue discussions in Europe on how best to support the film production industry, notably through the media programme; we would study proposals from the industry for a films commission to improve the promotion of British films in the United Kingdom and overseas.