Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Office, Shute End, Wokingham RG40 1BN

Contact: Luciane Bowker  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

An apology for absence was submitted from Councillor Malcolm Richards.

2.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 141 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 9 November 2015.

 

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9 November 2015 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following correction:

 

Under item 20 on the second paragraph, where it says Woodley Parish Council, it should say Woodley Town Council.

3.

Declaration of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

4.

Public Question Time

To answer any public questions

 

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

 

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this committee.

 

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

5.

Member Question Time

To answer any member questions.

Minutes:

There were no Member questions.

6.

Review of Film Policy pdf icon PDF 84 KB

To receive and consider the Film Classification Policy.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report containing the Film Classification Policy which was set out on Agenda pages 9-17.

 

Julia O’Brien, Principal Environmental Health Officer explained that the Council as the Licensing Authority had a responsibility to classify unclassified films for streaming.  The purpose of this policy was to set out a formal procedure for the Licensing Authority to determine the classification of previously unclassified films, appeals by distributors against the British Board of Film Classification’s decisions or requests to reclassify films.

 

Julia stated that films could be classified either by the British Board of Film Classification (the BBFC) or by Licensing Authorities under the powers of the Licensing Act 2003.

 

Julia pointed out that the classification of films should have regard to the national guidelines and the promotion of the Licensing objectives.

 

In response to a question Julia stated that even though Wokingham Borough Council and West Berkshire would share the same policy, films to be shown in Wokingham would be classified by WBC separately.

 

During the discussion of the item the following points were made:

 

·           It was possible to change the classification of previously classified films;

·           Some Members felt that more clarity was needed to define what was meant by ‘moral harm’ in terms of protecting children;

·           Members considered that it would be useful to see the BBFC guidelines;

·           Julia explained that a Sub-Committee comprising of three Members of the Licensing Committee would be convened as and when a request for classification was received;

·           Paul Anstey, Joint Service Delivery Manager West Berkshire and Wokingham Environmental Health and Licensing, pointed out that it was unlikely that Wokingham would receive many such requests;

·           Open air showings were subject to an application process and where necessary conditions could be imposed;

·           The age specification on paragraph 7 of the policy would vary depending on the film, this was for a Sub-Committee to determine;

·           Travelling cinemas were subject to the same procedure as any other films.

 

After careful consideration and discussion the Committed decided to adopt the Film Classification Policy as set out in the Agenda.

 

RESOLVED: That the Film Classification Policy be adopted by Wokingham Borough Council as presented in the Appendix of the Agenda.