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Film Classification Policy

This Council is a licensing authority under the Licensing Act 2003, with responsibility for authorising premises to be used for licensable activities, which includes the use of premises for the exhibition of films.

 

Where the Council issues a premises licence that authorises a premises to be used for film exhibitions, it is required to attach a condition which requires admission to films to be restricted in accordance with the recommendations of either the British Board of Film Classification (the BBFC) or the licensing authority itself.

 

The overwhelming majority of films exhibited in the Council’s area will have been classified by the BBFC.

 

However, there are exceptional circumstances in which the Council might be asked to provide its own recommendations on the admission of children to certain films.

 

This can occur when in situations where the BBFC has made a classification decision but a film distributor or other independent party, requests that the Council re-classifies or authorises a film to be screen locally with its own recommendations on the access of children.

 

Additionally, the Council might be asked to authorise the showing of a film in its area, which has not been classified by the BBFC.  This can relate to:

 

  • A film festival covering a specific period
  • A one-off screening of a film
  • A trailer for a film

 

The Council has adopted a Film Classification Policy which sets out the procedure that will be followed when requests to classify or reclassify films are received.  It also sets out the general approach and guiding principles that will be followed when determining film classifications.

 

The policy can be downloaded from the “Documents” section of this web page.