Films (Definition of “British Film”) Order 2015

Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury Excerpts

Thursday 22nd January 2015 Grand Committee

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble (Con)]

My Lords, as may have been seen from this month’s BAFTA nominations, the British film industry is thriving. Alongside such critical success, the UK film industry has a turnover of £7.3 billion and is worth more than £1.4 billion to the economy, employing more than 66,000 people. Production spend on films made in the UK exceeded £1 billion in 2013.

This is very much as a result of film tax relief. Since its inception in 2007—I know the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, has a long interest and connection with this concept—film tax relief has supported 1,680 films, with total production expenditure of £7.8 billion, of which 72% was incurred in the United Kingdom. The Government are committed to building on this and safeguarding it for the future.

The order updates the statutory test that is used to assess whether a film is a British production and eligible to apply for film tax relief. Certification as such is a requirement for film production companies to claim tax relief on production costs. The revised test aims to benefit particular areas of film production, such as visual effects and post-production, in which the United Kingdom excels.

In the Budget of 2013, the Chancellor announced that the Government would consult on tax options to support visual effects industries, and that was launched in May 2013. The United Kingdom has historically been a leader in visual effects production and is currently home to a number of world-renowned and award-winning visual effects houses making a significant contribution to British culture and creativity. Recent successes include the Oscar-winning film “Gravity” and “Paddington”, and work is currently under way on the latest “Star Wars” film.

Nevertheless, the sector has been adversely affected by rapid changes in the global industry, and there have been reports that activity may be moving overseas. Evidence suggests that the UK’s visual effects industry saw a 23% decrease in employment during the three years to 2013. There has also been a proliferation of incentives available in non-European jurisdictions. This has been a significant contributing factor in more films undertaking their visual effects outside the UK and Europe. Without further support, British visual effects houses may be forced to reduce headcount and investment in infrastructure, resulting in a decrease in the sector’s economic contribution and ultimately fewer British films being made.

The Government have responded in two interrelated ways. First, the Government have made the UK’s film corporation tax relief regime more attractive. The rate of tax relief for films with a qualifying budget of £20 million or more has been increased from 20% to 25% on the first £20 million of UK expenditure, with any excess UK expenditure still receiving the existing 20% tax credit. The minimum spend threshold in the UK has been reduced from 25% to 10% of a film’s overall budget. It is anticipated that this will encourage more films to carry out their visual effects and post-production work in the UK. These measures are now in force, having been introduced via the Finance Act 2014.

The second action is to modernise the statutory test used to assess whether a film is a British production. This is the purpose of the draft order before the Committee. This points-based test, often referred to by the industry as the cultural test for film, ensures that relief is targeted towards qualifying British productions. These changes are straightforward and mirror elements from the existing cultural tests for high-end television, video games and animation programmes. The amendments increase the points available if certain percentages of a film’s production work, including visual effects, take place in the UK. They also increase the points awarded for the language spoken in the film. For example, if more than 75% of a film is in the English language, it will now score six points rather than four. Finally, points that are awarded for a film’s British setting, subject matter, characters and language will now equally be awarded for other European Economic Area states. These measures are designed to encourage co-operation with European film industries while still ensuring that activity takes place in the United Kingdom. The effect of these changes is that the number of points available increases from 31 to 35. The pass mark is accordingly raised from 16 to 18 points.

These measures have the strong support of the film industry, including the British Film Institute, which is the Government’s lead agency for film, the British Film Commission, which works to attract inward investment to the UK, the major film studios and the leading visual effects houses. The Government believe that this order is essential to encourage further film production work in the UK while ensuring that tax relief benefits only productions that carry out work in the UK and enrich our cultural perspective. In combination with the changes to the corporation tax relief regime, these measures will further growth and ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of a very competitive global film production industry. That will in turn increase the opportunities for British artists and help ensure that the British film industry remains a world leader and continues to provide so much pleasure to us all. I beg to move.

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)]

My Lords, I echo what the Minister said in congratulating the previous Government on introducing tax breaks for British films. Of course, since then the coalition Government have extended that to animation, high-end TV, video games and, most recently, regional theatre and live-action children’s TV, all of which have contributed enormously to the creative industries and their success. Tax breaks for the British film industry have paved the way and brought huge inward investment into the industry: millions of pounds of private funds to the independent sector and, from the private sector, millions more pounds spent on infrastructure. I am told that next week’s British film industry figures will be very positive, so the industry is happy.

We obviously support this order, particularly the extra points for production activity undertaken in the UK as that gives even greater incentive to bring work into the country. I have what is not really a question but more an observation. It is something I have picked up from talking to people in the industry: things are working well. The Minister has probably answered this already, but too many tweaks and changes should on the whole be avoided. I think I am right in saying that there is another order in the pipeline. The observation is to leave things that are working so well as they are.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

My Lords, I enjoyed the Minister’s explanation of the order before us today. If a film that has been supported by the Government and the taxpayer in this way should be very successful—he mentioned “Paddington”—and especially profitable, is some element of the profits returned to the pot, if that is the right expression, for further use by British films to encourage the British film industry or does it escape from the system? Is it in some way self-fulfilling that the profits of a publicly supported film go back into making more British films?