Clause 9 - Prohibition of Sponsorship
Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill
4:45 pm
Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden, Conservative)
We move to a completely different subject, which we discussed only briefly on Second Reading. The problem with the clause—it is a problem that we have encountered before in the Bill—is that it does not give us a clear definition, in this case of sponsorship. A lack of clear definition may cause confusion. The word is used in many different contexts. Hon. Members use it in a parliamentary context when we talk about sponsoring a Bill: indeed, I received a good response from hon. Members on both sides when I sought sponsors for my private Member's Bill on adoption.
Sponsorship can be used to describe support for an activity, event or organisation in return for something—or not as the case may be. I do not expect anything from hon. Members in return for sponsoring my Bill, except, perhaps, that they may be present on Second Reading. Sponsorship can, but does not necessarily, give rise to an agreement—again, I have no formal agreement with the hon. Members who supported my Bill. The clause is framed in terms of a sponsorship agreement, in which a party to it makes a contribution towards something. That is one definition of sponsorship but it may not cover all aspects of sponsorship. When an agreement is struck the parties usually know what they have agreed to do under that agreement, and that is often, thought not always, confirmed in writing. Under the definition of the sponsorship agreement given in the Bill, it is not clear where any written agreement is needed. That could open a considerable loophole.
As far as I can tell, nothing in the Bill will successfully tackle the problem of product placement. Clearly when a film star is asked by a tobacco company to smoke in a film, there may be some form of agreement, but if there is no requirement for that agreement to be in writing, so that it can be confirmed or proven to exist—if, in short, the agreement is verbal—the Bill will open quite a loophole. There is no question that product placement of that kind in films has a big impact on the group that all parties seek to protect—young people. Far more effectively than coupons, bone china mugs and all the other things described earlier, visual images of young peoples' role models who are smoking has a very great impact indeed.
I am not convinced that the Government's drafted version of a sponsorship agreement is really logical. People usually know their purpose or whether they are party to an agreement, but they cannot necessarily know the results of entering into an agreement. As drafted, clause 9(1) would create an offence arising out of a result, and that is a difficult concept. I imagine that when a sponsorship agreement is struck between two parties, whether in writing or not, what is in it for the parties concerned is very much left at face value. The full effect of his or her sponsorship may not be spelled out to the individual concerned. In consequence, perhaps, without seeing the detail of the agreement, it may be difficult to judge whether that person should have known what the effect of that sponsorship agreement would be.