Report of the Departmental Committee on the Employment of Children as Film Actors, in Theatrical Work and in Ballet / presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for the Home Department by Command of His Majesty, August 1950.

  • Great Britain. Departmental Committee on the Employment of Children as Film Actors, in Theatrical Work and in Ballet
Date:
1950
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Departmental Committee on the Employment of Children as Film Actors, in Theatrical Work and in Ballet / presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for the Home Department by Command of His Majesty, August 1950. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    sequences which the retention of this provision may have. Medical Examinations 25. The arrangements should continue under which a child is examined by the school medical officer as to suitability for employment before the grant of a licence and at such other times as the local authority may think fit. 126. It is a loophole in the medical arrangements for a licensed child that unless the engagement is for more than three months the child may be examined once only. While it may be that if any obvious harm has been done the school teacher would report the case for further examination, this should not be relied on in a matter of such importance. Moreover, not all children are within the orbit of the school medical service. We therefore recommend that a child should be examined within one week of the final performance authorised by the licence. ‘We have enquired whether the introduction of a compulsory examination on completion of employ- ment is likely to put too heavy a burden on the school medical service. We have been reassured on this point: the number of children involved is not appreciable in comparison with the total number of children for whom the service provides. Apart from its value in any individual case, the information provided by these final medical examinations should provide a useful basis for any future consideration of the effect on children of 127. We think provision should be made for the medical record of the 128. A licence should not be granted to enable a child to appear on the Stage in a part which would exploit a physical or mental defect, for example, an acute stammer. Welfare Appointment of matrons 129. We think that the Regulations should require every child to be in the care of a matron during the period of the licence. Where not more than three children are concerned, the governess might also act as matron. A child’s parent, if otherwise suitable, should not necessarily be precluded from acting as matron, though an outside appointment may often be wiser. In our view, the conditions under which a child takes part in entertainments are such that a matron is necessary whether the child lives at home or not. This is especially true where the child is away from home for a large part of the day and has long journeys to make to the theatre as, for example, when playing in London suburban theatres. 130. The advantages of a central panel of matrons have been urged upon us. The opinion of the 1922 Matron Committee that local authorities might be discouraged by the existence of a central list of matrons is not widely shared, even by local authorities. We have come to the conclusion, never- matrons. To be effective, enquiries would have to be carried out locally ; and, as the Matron Committee pointed out, the work of maintaining the 4]
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