§ 23. Mr. Wigleyasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he plans to meet the chairman of the Welsh Arts Council.
§ The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Norman St. John-Stevas)I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 16 July.
§ Mr. WigleyWhen the right hon. Gentleman next has the opportunity of meeting the chairman, will he discuss with him the implications of the Redcliffe-Maud report on the arts in England and Wales, particularly that part of the report which deals with the sparsity of resources in areas such as the counties of Gwynedd and Clwyd, which has led to the slowness of development of many of the arts under the care of the North Wales arts association? Will he discuss with the chairman of the Welsh Arts Council whether enough resources are being allocated to such areas, and will he in general review the implications of the Redcliffe-Maud report, 22 since, to a large extent that report was based on the assumption that the Welsh Assembly would come into being? Is not the time ripe to reconsider this since the Assembly has been put off for some time?
§ Mr. St. John-StevasI am happy to give the hon. Gentleman the assurance that he requires. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will be interested to know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales met the chairman of the Welsh Arts Council last Wednesday and they held a wide-ranging discussion.