4
The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Community Health and the Licensing Manager and Housing Lead Lawyer introduced report ES/1415 and described how East Suffolk Council was the Licensing Authority under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 (the Act). It issued premises licences and club premises certificates which permit licensable activities as defined by the Act. One of the licensable activities was the provision of regulated entertainment which included the exhibition of a film. The Committee heard that that all premises licences that permitted regulated entertainment in the form of the exhibition of a film had a mandatory condition relating to the admission of children to that premises. Consequently, any film not already classified must be classified by the local authority prior to being shown.
The Senior Licensing Officer explained that in recent months the Council had received three last-minute requests for classification, and that it was now necessary to introduce a Policy for applicants to provide 28-days’ notice which would provide certainty to applicants and the Council. The Policy would also set out the formal procedure for the Council to determine the classification of previously unclassified films, appeals by distributors against the British Board of Film Classification’s decisions, or request to reclassify films.
The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member and Officers for their introduction and invited questions from Members. Councillor Newton asked if there was any reason for the increase in the number of classification requests. Officers explained that film festivals were becoming more popular and that there was greater awareness that films for exhibition had to be classified. In response to Councillor Rainger, Officers stressed that the report set out that whilst the Council would still have the option of considering late submissions on a case-by-case basis, the intention of the Policy was to establish a 28-day notice period. Councillor Fisher was unsure of the wording of clause 4.4 and Officers clarified that the second sentence in 4.4 would be adjusted to read that ‘material should not be in breach of the criminal law including material does to be obscene under the current interpretation of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 or the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or any other relevant legislation…’
The Chairman invited the Committee to debate the report. Councillor Newton welcomed the introduction of the Policy, and the Committee expressed its broad support. Accordingly, Councillor Gee proposed, Councillor Hedgley seconded, the Chairman moved to the vote and the Committee unanimously
RESOLVED
To approve the draft policy for dealing with the classification of films for use immediately.