§ 41. Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Minister for the Arts when he last met with the Association of County Councils to discuss the future of the Public Library Service.
§ Mr. LuceThe Association of County Councils has not sought a meeting to discuss this matter with me, but I shall be happy to see the association if it does.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursIs the Minister aware that there have been 200 library closures since 1979, a 34 per cent. cut in book funding per head of population since 1979 and a 20 per cent. cut in the same figure for the county of Cumbria? Are the Government simply anti-culture?
§ Mr. LuceThe hon. Gentleman will correct me if I am wrong, but I think that this is the first time that he has put an oral question to me—
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursNo. Withdraw.
§ Mr. LuceIf that is not true, I am happy to withdraw it. I very much welcome the hon. Gentleman's interest in the subject of arts and libraries. I hope, therefore, that he will welcome the fact that the amount of money allocated to local authority libraries and museums will increase in the coming financial year by 15 per cent. I hope he will also 654 welcome the fact that, compared with a decade ago, when the Socialists were last in power, there are more books in libraries.