§ Mr. Hendersonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what increases he proposes to the provision made for the Royal Scottish Museum, the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland, and the National Library of Scotland and to the grants made to the Scottish Museums Council and the Scottish Film Council in 1985–86.
§ Mr. YoungerSubject to parliamentary approval I propose to increase the net provision, excluding purchase grants, for the National Museums (the Royal Scottish Museum and the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland) by £331,000 in 1985–86 (12 per cent.) over the 1984–85 provision; and I propose to allocate an additional £700,000 in 1985–86 through the Property Services Agency, most of which will be used to maintain the fabric of the museum facilities.
I propose to increase the net provision of the National Galleries of Scotland by £99,000 (6 per cent., discounting special extra provision of £30,000 for a new telephone exchange authorised in 1984–85) and the National Library of Scotland by £236,000 (9 per cent.). In the case of both institutions, these increases take account of the fact that new accommodation to house their collections and facilities has either just been provided or is being prepared. The additional provision will enable the galleries to make better use of this accommodation, and will allow the National Library to begin to take on the specialist staff required for the opening in 1987 of the Scottish science reference library.
I also intend to increase purchase grants for the national institutions and the local museum purchase funds by £345,000 (13 per cent.) overall. The total increases in net provision for 1985–86 will therefore amount to 12 per cent. for the National Museums, 9 per cent. for the National Galleries of Scotland and 10 per cent. for the National Library of Scotland.
I am proposing to increase the Scottish Museum Council's grant, including grant to the Museum Documentation Association, by £117,000 (41 per cent.) and the Scottish Film Council's grant by £74,000 (22 per cent.) The provision for the Scottish Film Council includes an additional £10,000 in the grant which is paid through the Council towards the Scottish film production fund.