§ Mr. Powellasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what he regards as the maximum acceptable percentage to which the ratio of administrative costs to current expenditure by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland ought to be reduced.
§ Mr. Carter,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 16 March 1979; Vol. 949, c. 392], gave the following information:
It would not be appropriate to determine such a percentage.
The Arts Council is aware of the need to ensure that administrative costs are kept as low as possible, consistent with the efficient discharge of its functions.
The council's administrative costs, which appear with other expenditure in its annual accounts under the heading of general operating costs, include the salaries and expenses of officers whose roles are to promote and develop arts and cultural activities throughout Northern Ireland. In other parts of the United Kingdom this work is distributed amongst a number of agencies.
In 1977–78, the Arts Council's general operating costs represented approximately 36 per cent of its total recurrent expenditure, and this represents 17.6 per cent. of its total expenditure on the arts in Northern Ireland.