§ 49. Mr. ButlerTo ask the Minister for the Arts if he will make it his policy to move towards selective endowment funding of arts and heritage bodies.
§ Mr. LuceI am very much in favour of arts bodies building up endowment funds. Apart from the special case of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, however, such funds should be drawn from private sector resources.
§ Mr. ButlerWill my hon. Friend reconsider this and, perhaps, experiment with launching out on endowment some of the smaller museums currently funded by his Office?
§ Mr. LuceI am grateful to my hon. Friend for his point. There is no doubt that the establishment of endowment funds in the arts helps to strengthen the security and independence of arts bodies. I am very much in favour of 14 the expansion of those endowment funds. They have tended to happen with the larger bodies. The most recent example is the National Theatre, which has established a £1.5 million endowment fund, under the leadership of the outstanding retiring chairman, Lord Rayne. With the range of tax concessions already available, people should be encouraged to establish endowment funds.