§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Minister for the Arts what representations he has received from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust concerning the recommendations of "Arts and Disabled People", the report of a committee of inquiry under the chairmanship of Sir Richard Attenborough; what action he has taken or will be taking; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LuceI met the chairman of the Carnegie Council in January of this year, and we have corresponded on a number of the recommendations of the Attenborough Committee. The Arts Council has published a code of practice to encourage its clients to consider the needs of people with disabilities, both as participants in the arts and430W VIII have been closed for 100 years, until 2 January 2037. The holders of the private papers of certain people who held high ministerial office at that time, including Mr. Neville Chamberlain, were asked not to release for public inspection material from those papers relating to the abdication. When this request was first made to the University of Birmingham in 1974, it was asked, and agreed, to keep entries in Mr. Chamberlain's diary relating to the abdication closed for 100 years. In subsequent correspondence two years later the university was told that the then Lord Chancellor's approval had been given to a 50-year closure in respect of public records. This was not correct; and when the mistake came to light earlier this year it was drawn to the university's attention and it was asked, and agreed, to keep the material closed for 100 years, in accordance with the original request.