Children and Families Bill

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2013 Grand Committee

[Lord Storey]

My Lords, I am tempted to suggest that perhaps there ought to be some regulations regarding the times that we can perform, so that we know when we will start and finish and that we are being safeguarded correctly—but clearly that is not going to happen.

I went along to an all-party group looking at children and young performers in the media. I did not realise the problems that not only children face in terms of safeguarding. I am being told to shut up—you see, I cannot even perform.

I will make three very quick points. First, the legislation that was quite rightly introduced in the early 1960s was to protect children, but since then history has moved on. Times have moved on. Never mind a few television channels, we have hundreds of them. We are seeing the law being broken. There are television shows that are breaking the law. There are others that are playing by the outdated 1960s regulations. For example, a poor lad wins a talent competition, but because the witching hour has passed, he has to sit in the audience and cannot be part of the winning group.

I remind noble Lords of the three concepts that my noble friend Lady Benjamin spoke about: consistency, transparency and making sure that safeguarding happens. Currently, safeguarding does not happen. If we take only one thing from this rather truncated discussion, it should be that safeguarding children has to be not only about safeguarding them as individuals but about safeguarding their opportunities. It cannot be right that children in some local authorities are allowed to take part while in other local authorities they are not.

When the Minister replies—briefly, no doubt—I ask him to consider how we can make this happen, because we cannot have legislation trying to protect our young people that goes back to the early 1960s. I had lots more to say, but perhaps I can save that for another time—or, hopefully, not.

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara]

My Lords, I thank noble Lords who contributed to this debate. It is a good topic and one which we have been happy to put our names to in order for it to have the best possible chance of being successful.

The noble Baroness, Lady Benjamin, will not mind me saying that when I first came down as a raw and untutored-in-the-cinematic-arts person from Scotland, she was one of the first people I met. She wowed me then, and she wows me now. That performance—Floella, you were wonderful.

I am very pleased to be able to support this update of legislation that was last updated in 1963. Clearly, as we have heard, the world of television and film performance has been transformed since then. As noble Lords mentioned, it is important that the legislation properly reflects the full range of opportunities available to young people and at the same time builds in safeguards that will protect them from exploitation or physical or mental harm.

However, the chance to be involved in film and television work—indeed, this also applies to stage work—depends where you live, with local authorities operating rules in a very inconsistent way. There are also huge disparities in the amount of paperwork required. We need to update the legislation. It needs to widen the types of involvement suitable for child participants and to make sure that it covers the range, as has been mentioned, away from just simply acting and singing. What a wonderful world 1963 must have been if that was all you could do. I would not know. “Stop mucking about”.