Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on theatre groups and lighting designers of the proposed phasing out from 2020 of the use of tungsten halogen lamps.

The current proposals from the European Commission are still open for discussion and no decisions have yet been made about the future of tungsten lighting for use in theatres. We are aware of the concerns raised by theatre groups, lighting designers and others and will as, part of our evidence gathering seek views prior to voting on the Regulation. Our initial technical advice suggests there are low energy lighting alternatives (e.g. LEDs) which use much less energy and have a longer lifetime than the tungsten lightbulbs. As a result, savings on energy bills will outweigh higher purchasing costs over the lifetime of the product. The Department also carries out a cost benefit analysis of these measures but this does not address specific sectors.