HC Deb 25 January 1988 vol 126 cc13-4
35. Mr. Sedgemore

To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he plans to meet the chairman of Greater London Arts to discuss the funding of the arts in London in 1988–89.

Mr. Luce

I visited the offices of Greater London Arts and met the chairman and director last year. I expect to meet them again from time to time this year, and funding will no doubt feature in our discussions.

Mr. Sedgemore

Is the Minister satisfied that, whereas every other regional arts association is receiving a cut in its grant in real terms, Greater London Arts is receiving a cut in real terms and in cash? What is his message to the clients of GLA who have been asked to submit plans on the basis of a 10 per cent. reduction in their expenditure on account of a £232,000 shortfall due to abolition cuts, and cuts in the Arts Council grant?

Mr. Luce

I am interested in the hon. Gentleman's question, because I do not know where he got his figures. The simple fact is that the Arts Council has not yet reached an agreement with Greater London Arts about the sums of money that will be allocated. GLA is doing an excellent job. It has nearly £8 million worth of taxpayers' money in this financial year to allocate to arts organisations. Despite all the remarks about the South Bank and its achievements, it deserves enormous credit. For the first time since the Festival of Britain in 1951 it is undertaking a new festival with artistic collaboration from all types of art. There is £1 million of extra sponsorship from British Commonwealth Holdings. That is a good example of the sort of arts activity in London.

Mr. Colvin

Does my right hon. Friend agree that one way of supplementing official funding for the arts in London might be by way of the Government's new payroll giving scheme? How optimistic is he that that scheme will work? Will he consider holding discussions with his Treasury colleagues before the forthcoming Budget to see whether a little more beef can be put into the scheme, which looks at present as if it might be a bit of a damp squib?

Mr. Luce

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the importance of the payroll giving scheme. It is another way — a new way — in which individuals can be encouraged, with tax incentives, to give to charitable bodies, including the arts. I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will note the views expressed by my hon. Friend. I believe that the scheme should not be underestimated and that the maximum number of people should be encouraged to join it. The scheme is now available to the Civil Service, and 300,000 civil servants could take part in it.

Mr. Tony Banks

Let me tell the Minister in response to his inquiry — [HON. MEMBERS: "Question."] No, let me tell him that the information given by my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney. South and Shoreditch (Mr. Sedgemore) about the cut in the base budget for GLA came from the Arts Council. Is the Minister aware that, because of the cut in the money GLA will be receiving as a result of abolition, there will be a major economic crisis facing the arts in London? Whatever the Minister has done elsewhere in the country, he has clearly failed the arts in London yet again.

Mr. Luce

Two years ago, when we were debating abolition, the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) spent his time saying that arts activity on the South Bank would collapse and that arts in London would collapse. The opposite has happened. I have just described to the House the excellent news about the South Bank. It is approaching the matter in an imaginative fashion and the plan for its festival this coming spring is the first since 1951. It is the opposite of what the hon. Gentleman has been saying.