Loughton to reconsider child performance regulations

The move, which Loughton flagged in a speech to the International Association for the Study of Attachment (IASA), will build on the work of March’s Thane report. However, it will stop short of being a full review, a spokesperson for the Department of Education said.

"The Thane report, produced under the last government, had cross-party support. The minister is keen to look again at its recommendations and he will obviously have ideas of his own."

In his IASA speech this week, Loughton likened reality TV to Victorian freak shows, singling out Channel 4’s Boys and Girls Alone programme, saying it "sparked fierce debate about a kind of engineered Lord of the Flies-type scenario".

He added: "There is a growing need to look again at our child performance laws, which date back to the 1960s. That is something I will be undertaking in the autumn, together with the rather antiquated legislation on child employment."
    
The Sarah Thane report, written by the former chair of the Royal Television Society, sought ways to bring 40-year-old legislation up to date. Its recommendations included ensuring reality TV was covered by the regulations, improving the standard of education for child performers and developing a modern inspection and enforcement system.