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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, I rise to move Amendment 246. This seeks to plug a loophole that the British Board of Film Classification and others feel remains in the legislation connected to the exemption awarded to certain video material. Indeed, I see that the names that have been added to the amendment are from across the political spectrum. This exemption, set out in Section 2 of the Video Recordings Act 1984, to which Clause 40 relates, allows works to be exempted from classification if they are designed for educational purposes or are concerned with sport, religion or music, and do not depict, to a significant extent—and I paraphrase—sexual activity or gross violence. This threshold is very high, significantly higher than the threshold in non-exempted work. For example, it allows unsimulated, strong, bloody violence and the after effects of self-harm. It also includes topless lap-dancing, which is an activity the Government viewed as being equivalent to explicitly pornographic videos dealt with in the Policing and Crime Act 2009. We accept that there will always be a grey area in matters such as this. However, when many in the industry are voluntarily submitting exempted works for classification because they consider their material unsuitable for under-12s—even though it does not reach the threshold—there clearly is a problem. The Government appear to consider that there is sufficient legislation for using enforcement officers against such material, but we hear a different story from those same officers and agencies. The Government have also commented that the amendment would increase the regulatory burden. I cannot understand that argument. Certainly, more works might be subject to classification, but every individual work has to be assessed against a single threshold as it is, and that is not changing. The Government also pray in aid the technical standards and regulations directive and the three-month consultation period. After our debates on Clause 17, I find that argument astounding. We would be more than happy to help draft a very precise power for the Secretary of State to take steps to ensure that the threshold for exempted video works is brought into step with that for non-exempted works. Finally, let me briefly address the more specific arguments against my amendment. I appreciate that the wording is not sufficiently precise; the nudity must be more closely linked with sexual behaviour. The discriminatory behaviour needs to be more precisely defined, and so on. However, the intention of my amendment is clear. We feel that the differences between exempted and non-exempted classes of video work are no longer sufficiently significant and that steps must be taken to ensure that any loophole that allows unsuitable material to be completely unclassified is closed. I beg to move.