Annex 1: rules of coverage
The rules, as amended in 2006, are set out below:
The following rules apply to the television coverage
of official proceedings of Parliament.
1. Statement of objectives
The director should seek, in close collaboration
with the Director of Broadcasting, to give a full, balanced, fair
and accurate account of proceedings, with the aim of informing
viewers about the work of the House.
(It is noted that the director should have regard
to the dignity of the House and to its function as a working body
rather than a place of entertainment.)
2. Specific guidelines for picture direction
a) Restriction of Filming Certain Parts of Chamber,
etc.
i) The press and public galleries, the officials'
and visitors' boxes, and the area behind the Speaker's Chair,
not being directly related to proceedings, should not be shown,
other than unavoidably as part of wide-angle or other authorised
shots of the Chamber.
ii) Great care should be exercised in showing the
occupant of the Chair. Shots designed to show the Speaker receiving
advice from a Clerk at the Table should not be used. Officers
of the House and Doorkeepers attending in the Chamber should not
normally be shown, unless they are taking an active part in the
proceedings.
iii) During Divisions, a wide-angle shot of the Chamber
may be used. In addition, the following events relating to Divisions
may be shown using the standard format described in sub-paragraph
2.(b)(i): the putting of the Question, both initially and after
the two minute interval; the announcement of the names of the
Tellers; any points of order which may arise, together with any
response by the Chair; and the announcement by the Tellers and
the Chair of the voting figures.
iv) In no circumstances should close-up shots of
Members' or Officers' papers be taken.
b) Style and Presentation
i) The standard format for depicting the Member who
has the floor should be a head and shoulders shot, not a close-up.
ii) Subject to sub-paragraphs (iii) to (vii) below,
the camera should normally remain on the Member speaking until
he or she has finished.
iii) Wide-angle shots of the Chamber may be used
from time to time: for example, while the director is seeking
a closer shot of a Member who has just been called, at times when
no single Member has the floor, and to establish the geography
of the House for the benefit of viewers.
iv) As a matter of general practice, the director
should switch to a picture of the occupant of the Chair whenever
he or she rises; this principle should be applied all the more
strictly during incidents of disorder or altercations between
Chair and other Members.
v) Occasional cut-away shots to illustrate individual
reactions are allowed, usually to show a Member who has been referred
to by the Member speaking.
vi) Medium-angle shots, including over-the-shoulder
shots, are permissible where the director wishes to show both
the Member who has the floor and another Member intervening or
seeking to do so.
vii) Occasional group shotsmid-way between
the standard head and shoulders shot and the wide-angle shotare
permitted; such shots may be used either for the purposes of showing
the reaction of a group of Members, or in order to establish the
geography of a particular part of the Chamber.
c) Special Camera Techniques
i) In no circumstances are split-screen shots to
be used.
ii) Panning shots along the benches should not normally
be used.
iii) Occasional zoom shots are permitted.
3. Treatment of disorder
a) Disorder in the Galleries
i) Neither interruptions from, nor demonstrations
in, the galleries are "Proceedings", and as such they
should in no circumstances be televised.
ii) If an incident of the sort described in sub-paragraph
(i) above occurs in such a way as to interfere with an otherwise
permissible shot, the director should cut either to a wide-angle
shot of the Chamber which does not show the offending incident,
or to the occupant of the Chair.
b) Disorder on the Floor of the House
Televising may continue during incidents of grave
disorder or unparliamentary behaviour for as long as the sitting
continues, but only subject to the following guidelines:
i) On occasions of grave disorder, the director should
normally focus on the occupant of the Chair for as long as proceedings
continue, or until order has been restored. (By "grave disorder"
is meant incidents of individual, but more likely collective,
misconduct of such a serious disruptive nature as to place in
jeopardy the continuation of the sitting.)
ii) In cases of unparliamentary behaviour, the director
should normally focus on the occupant of the Chair, and should
certainly do so if he or she rises, but occasional wide-angle
shots of the Chamber are acceptable. (The phrase "unparliamentary
behaviour" is intended to signify any conduct which amounts
to defiance of the Chair but which falls short of grave disorder.)
4. Westminster Hall
The rules of coverage for the Chamber shall be applied.
5. Select Committees
The rules of coverage for the Chamber shall be applied,
except that:
i) Reaction shots should be limited to Members to
whom a clear reference has been made or who have asked a question
of a witness.
ii) Reaction of the public gallery should not be
shown.
iii) Committee staff, the press, and shorthand writers
should not be shown other than unavoidably as part of another
authorised shot.
iv) No close-up shots of Members' or officials' papers
should be taken.
6. Standing Committees
The rules of coverage for the Chamber shall be applied.
Officials attending Ministers should not be shown.
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