§ Mr. ChannonTo ask the Minister for the Arts if he will list the amount of support per capita for repertory theatre given by regional arts associations in each English county.
§ Mr. Renton[holding answer 27 February 1991]: I am afraid that this information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. ChannonTo ask the Minister for the Arts if he will receive a deputation led by the right hon. Member for Southend, West to discuss the funding aspects for theatre in the south of Essex.
§ Mr. Renton[holding answer 27 February 1991]: Under the "arm's length" principle which governs central Government support for the arts, the funding of regional theatre in Essex is a matter of artistic policy for Eastern Arts and the Arts Council as appropriate. In the first instance my right hon. Friend might therefore most usefully pursue the matter with the funding bodies.
§ Mr. ChannonTo ask the Minister for the Arts if he will hold a meeting with Eastern Arts to discuss the need for subsidised repertory theatre in Essex.
§ Mr. Renton[holding answer 27 February 1991]: The need for subsidised repertory theatre in Essex is a matter of artistic policy for Eastern Arts and the Arts Council to decide as appropriate.
I did, however, visit the eastern region on 27 February during which I had extensive discussions on this and other matters with the director of Eastern Arts and with the director of the new Eastern Arts Board.
§ Mr. ChannonTo ask the Minister for the Arts if he will make it his policy to transfer responsibility for providing grants to repertory theatres from Eastern Arts to the Arts Council.
§ Mr. Renton[holding answer 27 February 1991]: In my statement to the House on 19 December 1990 on the structural reforms of arts funding I announced that, subject to appropriate safeguards, responsibility for funding regional artistic activity would increasingly pass from the Arts Council to the new regional arts boards. I am awaiting advice from the Arts Council on the detailed application of that policy. I therefore have no plans to expand the range of the Arts Council's existing funding responsibilities.