§ 26. Mr. Meadowcroftasked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State answering in respect of the Arts what study has been made of the relative cost-effectiveness of (a) general subsidies for arts performances and (b) specifically-targeted assistance for needy individuals towards the cost of attending such performances.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe Arts Council of Great Britain and several regional arts associations have experimented with schemes for assisting audiences with the cost of attending performances, but in general have found these more expensive than subsidy.
§ Mr. MeadowcroftAccepting that both the Minister and want to maximise attendance at arts functions, does he agree that, despite legitimate subsidies, many seats are still too dear for poorer people? Is it not important to continue to try to find ways of assisting people across the board to attend arts functions?
§ Mr. WaldegraveI accept the hon. Gentleman's point. Experiments that have been conducted appear to show that keeping down the cost of seats in general is a better way of doing it. As is often the case, the more complicated schemes seem to help the articulate more than the needy.
§ Mr. BudgenHas my hon. Friend thought of a method of assessing the average annual incomes of those who attend subsidised arts performances?
§ Mr. WaldegraveIt would be an interesting survey to conduct, but I am not sure that it is within the resources of the Office of Arts and Libraries to do so.