§ Mr. Fisherasked the Under-Secretary of State answering in respect of the Arts what information was supplied to him by the Arts Council regarding the accumulated deficit of its client companies in the course of his discussions with the council regarding the level of his grant to them for the purpose of paying some of those deficits.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe Arts Council provided my noble Friend with a statement of its estimated grant requirements for its client bodies, which took account of the financial position of individual bodies including those in deficit.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Under-Secretary of State answering in respect of the Arts what information he has had from the Arts Council as to how many of its current clients are in deficit; what is the total amount involved; and whether provision will be made in the 1984 Arts Council budget to clear those dificits.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe number of clients in deficit varies from month to month. In any case, the Arts Council is not the sole funding agency of the bodies concerned. The council estimates that the total deficit may be of the order of £7 million for Great Britain; this includes the deficits of the Royal Opera House and Royal Shakespeare Company, about which my noble Friend hopes to make a statement next week.
The allocation to the Arts Council for 1984–85 will take into account these and other considerations.