TV 'must schedule more UK movies'

Television companies will be forced by law to show more British feature films as part of strict new public service broadcasting rules.

The result of this amendment to the controversial Communications Bill, likely to become law later this year, is a major boost to the UK film industry's finances and profile.

It comes as a new survey highlights the pitiful uptake of British films by the five terrestrial television stations.

According to research by the Film Council, just 2.6 per cent of films shown on mainstream television in the past six months of 2002 were recent British films.

Channel 4 topped the list, showing 16 British films under five years old, including East Is East and Notting Hill. BBC1 showed six, including Mansfield Park and Chicken Run, and BBC2 screened three, including Born Romantic and The Clandestine Marriage.ITV1 managed only to show Rogue Trader, while Channel 5 showed only Stanley Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut.

Yet across the European Union, investment by broadcasters plays a key role in sustaining indigenous film industries, notably in France, Italy, Spain and Poland. It is also a major contributor to film in Scandinavia.

The British Government, following intervention by Kim Howells, the Culture minister, is likely to back legislation to help bring Britain into line, albeit four years after the Government's Film Policy Review recommended that in order to develop a sustainable industry there must be a steady stream of investment from UK broadcasters. It is also a key plank of the Film Council's strategy for the industry, first outlined late last year by its chairman, the film director Sir Alan Parker.

But research shows that the BBC invests less than 1 per cent of its entire budget in UK feature film production, while ITV and Channel 5 invest even less. Even FilmFour, the production arm of Channel 4, has shut down with huge job losses and Granada hasclosed its dedicated film arm.

The amendment to the Bill would mean that films will for the first time be measured as part of a station's commitment to its public service broadcasting obligations.

Parmjit Dhanda, the Labour MP who put down the amendment, said: "This should help ensure that more high-quality British films are made and seen on both large and small screens."

John Woodward, chief executive of the Film Council, said: "The involvement of broadcasters is essential to the development of a sustainable UK film industry and this change will open up more opportunities to talented film-makers and give viewers access to more high-quality, distinctively British films."