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

I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but the one thing on which I hope we can agree is that work is now under way on a major survey to ascertain the public's view and whether there has been a change in public opinion. I do not know what the results will be and nor, I suggest, does the hon. Gentleman. However, we both have the opportunity—it is not too late—to influence how the BBFC obtains the information. If he feels strongly that it conducted the last survey incorrectly, I would urge him to contact the BBFC and share his concerns about the methodology used, to ensure that that does not happen again. That way, we will all be in possession of information that none of us currently knows. As I said earlier, although the BBFC is portrayed as being far too timid, it is worth reflecting on the fact that 10 per cent. of its decisions have been to give certificates of a higher categorisation than were requested by the film makers. There are many such examples, including ““I Am Legend””, ““Mr. and Mrs. Smith”” and ““Cloverfield””, which were given a 15 rating instead of a 12A rating, ““The Proposition”” and ““This Is England””, both of which were given an 18 rating instead of a 15 rating, and ““Sweeney Todd””, whose classification the Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee was, as we heard, desperate to have reduced on behalf of his children. There are also a number of cases where films and videos were rejected altogether. The BBFC is therefore not a soft-touch organisation; it is one that that commands the support—albeit by only a small margin—of a majority of the British people and one whose decisions are tougher than it is often given credit for. I therefore have concerns about Parliament getting involved in the nitty-gritty of the guidelines. For reasons that I have already given, I think that that would be a step too far. Parliament would have the opportunity of throwing out the head of the organisation responsible for the BBFC if Parliament—or, specifically, the relevant Select Committee—believed that it had come up with an inappropriate set of guidelines. Finally, let me deal with one issue in the Bill that has not been touched on at all, other than briefly in an intervention. The current maximum fine that can be levied on retailers selling DVDs, videos or video games is £5,000. The Bill proposes to increase that to £20,000. However, the average fines in recent years have been considerably below the £5,000 maximum. Indeed, the average fines in the past 10 years have been: £519, £440, £798, £1,028, £1,378, £1,079, £921, £775, £489 and £1,244 in 2006, the last year for which we have figures. If we are thinking of increasing the fine, there must be a significant change of attitude among those deciding on the level of the fine. I would not object to that. Where there have been breaches, those concerned need to be penalised severely to ensure that people know how seriously we take the issue. The real issue is not the size of the fine, however; it is that not many people are being fined at all. The concern among my constituents and every other hon. Member's constituents is about the ease with which children can get hold of such material—videos, DVDs and certain computer games—in many shops. We have heard examples of the ease of accessing such material. I said in an intervention that I knew how many prosecutions there had been in recent years. I said that the average over the past 10 years was 14. However, it is instructive to note that the last time we reached even 14 prosecutions was in 2003. There were only six prosecutions in 2004, and only eight in 2005 and 2006. We can talk as much as we like about increasing the penalties, the level of fine and the length of imprisonment, as the Bill does, but frankly there is no point in worrying about those issues unless we first ensure real enforcement of existing legislation. If that means making the labelling clearer and dealing with the two different types of labelling for some video games, then so be it; it is a task that we should undertake. I know that the Select Committee, under the chairmanship of the hon. Member for Maldon and East Chelmsford, is looking into that particular issue. We hope for an urgent response. Labelling is important, but so is the education of members of staff working in the stores, as is educating parents about what the labels mean. With proper enforcement, we can hope that the figures will stay low because everyone will be abiding by the law rather than getting away with it, as I am convinced is currently the case. Let me end with brief comments on another issue. As others have said, although the Bill is important and addresses issues that are of concern to many people, in some senses it misses the key point. The biggest concern should really be about the internet, particularly the ability of children to access all sorts of inappropriate material on it. That is why, as I said briefly before, I greatly welcome the Government's appointment of Dr. Byron to look into that particular issue. I have kept track of her work—for example, her extensive survey work and her engagement with many experts in the field. I believe that the result of her work will influence further movements in Parliament to deal with these issues. For the many reasons I have provided, I do not believe that the time is right to press ahead with the Bill as drafted. It would not be right to go ahead right now when we are about to receive the results of some very important research. I congratulate the hon. Member for Canterbury on initiating our debate on these important issues. As I have explained, apart from one small area of agreement, I sadly disagree with the majority of the Bill, so I cannot support it.