British Board of Film Classification (Accountability to Parliament and Appeals) Bill

I congratulate the hon. Member for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) on securing the debate, which has led to some extremely measured and thoughtful contributions from the right hon. Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) and the hon. Members for Maldon and East Chelmsford (Mr. Whittingdale), for Ealing, North (Stephen Pound), for North Thanet (Mr. Gale) and for Hendon (Mr. Dismore). We had the benefit of learning of the rivalry between the hon. Members for Ealing, North and for Maldon and East Chelmsford in terms of their knowledge of films, and it is clear that they spend a great deal of their time either in front of their video or DVD machines or in the cinema and clearly enjoy many of the films that they see. More importantly, my sympathies lie predominantly, in terms of the contributions that we have heard so far, with the hon. Members for Hendon and for Maldon and East Chelmsford. The hon. Member for Hendon perhaps above all will join me in paying tribute to the excellent officers in the Library for preparing the briefing in advance of today's deliberations—a briefing that has definitely informed his own contribution quite extensively, but from which we will all have benefited. There are a few elements of the Bill with which I have some sympathy, and I certainly accept the point made by others that improvements need to be made, but large swathes of the Bill I find deeply worrying, which is why I certainly will not be able to support it. I have two broad areas of concern. First, notwithstanding that, as we heard from the hon. Member for Hendon, the research shows that a number of people are concerned with the classification system, all the research shows that the majority of people are satisfied with and supportive of it. Secondly, the Bill would give politicians an undue and dangerous influence over these sorts of issues, about which I would be very uncomfortable. However, it is only right to start with the broad areas of agreement. As we have heard, the Secretary of State already designates the top appointments to the BBFC: the president and the two vice presidents. Before he does that, the names, covered by sections 5(1) and (2) of the Video Recordings Act 1984, have to lie before both Houses of Parliament for 40 days, and there is an opportunity there, in effect, for a veto. However, I point out to the Minister that the chances of Members of either House happening to spot that are slightly remote because they would have to be avid readers of either the London Gazette, the Belfast Gazette or the Edinburgh Gazette, which are apparently among the few places where those names would appear, so we might look at ways of promoting that information and opportunity more widely. None the less, there is already a procedure that gives the right of veto to either House of Parliament and to the Secretary of State. The Bill proposes that the Home Affairs Committee would have a role in scrutinising appointments and a veto. As the hon. Member for Hendon has already pointed out, the Government are already consulting on that issue and that consultation is well down the tracks, but as he rightly said, that is only in respect of a scrutiny role, not in respect of a veto. The Bill goes further and suggests the Committee should have a veto. Clearly, the hon. Gentleman disagreed with that and would prefer to stick to the proposal that is now being consulted on. However, I agree with the proposal in the Bill that the Select Committee should have the right of veto. Indeed, since 2000, that has been my party's policy on senior posts in quangos and similar bodies. We have long argued that that would be an appropriate mechanism. The hon. Member for Canterbury, who is now rejoining us after a brief absence, will be delighted to learn that I will support that aspect of the Bill. However, I have two concerns about it that I wish to express. As I mentioned in an earlier intervention, either House of Parliament has the ability to exercise a veto at present. We are being asked to introduce a procedure whereby a Select Committee had a scrutiny role and a veto role, but I believe that it would be inappropriate to have both layers in existence. If the Bill gets into Committee and further deliberations take place, the removal of sections 5(1) and (2) of the 1984 Act might well be a subject for consideration. I do not feel particularly comfortable with the notion of the three senior people—the president and the two deputy presidents—being affected by the provisions. I accept that that is the present arrangement, whereby the Secretary of State approves the appointments, with a possibility of a veto by either House. However, I believe that that is already a step too far. As with most other non-departmental public bodies, I believe that the appointment that should lie with the Secretary of State—followed by scrutiny and possible veto by the relevant Select Committee—should cover only the person at the top of the organisation. In this case, that is the president of the BBFC. I am not comfortable with the provisions covering three people. Nor am I comfortable with the fact that the present legislation—a set of procedures that the new Bill proposes to mirror—allows for the possibility of yet more senior people in the organisation falling under that procedure. Given that I believe it already covers two people too many, it is certainly inappropriate to have the power to extend that further. I acknowledge, however, that that is in the existing legislation, and would only be mirrored by the new Bill. Another area of concern, which has already been mentioned, is the question of which body is the appropriate one to carry out the scrutiny and to exercise the veto. The Bill is clear that it should be the Home Affairs Committee. However, others have rightly said that, given that responsibility for these issues largely passed to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2001, it would be more appropriate for that Department's Select Committee to be the body to undertake this function. Some people with whom I have discussed this matter have said that the wording of the Bill is flexible enough to allow that to happen. However, I have looked carefully at clause 5, which deals with interpretation, and it clearly states:"““'Home Affairs Committee' means any Committee of the House of Commons appointed under that name or any Committee appointed under a different name with substantially the same functions””." So, as the Bill stands, it would not be possible for the DCMS Select Committee to undertake this important activity. I happen to agree with that activity, but the proposals would result in it being undertaken by the wrong Committee. I do not understand how that mistake could have been made. The hon. Gentleman is an experienced Member of the House and someone who clearly has a passionate interest in this issue. Perhaps he will explain why this has happened. I find it odd that he seems to be championing a Committee that is chaired by a member of the Labour party, rather than the one chaired by the hon. Member for Maldon and East Chelmsford.