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Films (Definition of ““British Film””)Order 2006

My Lords, I add my voice to those congratulating the Government on what is a thoughtful way forward, but I will try to offer a little context and maybe one recommendation. The points system is just the latest iteration—I can certainly remember four, or maybe five, over the years—in an attempt to create a definition of British films that is both current with technological change—go back 20 years and the impact of technology was nothing like as important as it is today—and able to deal with the mix between the Government’s stated aims for the film production industry and the tax benefits that are available under the present regime. The points system is not a perfect science, but this is almost certainly another step in the right direction. Certainly officials have worked very hard to come up with this present formula. I recommend that the Government accept that it is an imperfect art and that they therefore charge the UK Film Council with monitoring the situation. I hope they will accept that a year or two from now they may well have to come back with minor amendments to the system to head off potential abuse and to take advantage of new opportunities which open up year on year. I have great sympathy with the noble Baroness’s concerns, but I think that we have got to the point that we are at on the information that is available to us. In an ideal world, we would not have to concern ourselves with these abuses of the system. However, we live in the real world. The Government have done well but would be well advised to continue to monitor the process, accepting that there may have to be additional minor changes a few years from now.