§ 31. Mr. Murphyasked the Minister for the Arts if he will make a statement on the increase of Government funding for the arts since 1979.
§ Mr. LuceTotal central Government expenditure on the arts and libraries programme will have increased by nearly 25 per cent. in real terms between 1979–80 and 1986–87. This figure includes the additional central funding following the abolition of the GLC and metropolitan county councils; excluding that, the real increase over the period will have been about 11 per cent.