§ Mr. HoramTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his statement of 11 December 1992,Official Report, columns 1123–33, when he expects to publish the consultant's report on the organisation and structure of the Arts Council; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BrookeLast December, I announced my conclusions on the appropriate balance between central and local decision making on funding. I made clear that the delegation of additional funding responsibilities to the regional arts boards and the devolution of the Scottish and Welsh Arts Councils would have implications for the size and structure of the Arts Council. At my request, and with full co-operation at all levels of the Arts Council, Price Waterhouse has now examined these organisational issues. I have now published its report.
Price Waterhouse has conducted a very full analysis, involving wide consultation both within the Arts Council and outside. Its recommendations include:
clarification of the Arts Council's relationships with Government, the Regional Arts Boards and clients; improvement in the planning system;changes to the composition of the Council itself, with an enhanced role as advocate for the arts.The report also includes possible options for structural changes to the Arts Councils organisation and staffing.
187WI welcome the thorough way in which Price Waterhouse has undertaken its task. The broad range of its review and the radical nature of some of its recommmendations are fully consistent both with our manifesto commitment to examine the role of the Arts Council and with the terms of my statement on delegated responsibility last December.
I shall, of course, want to consider these recommendations carefully before I reach any decisions. But I should like to make clear now the Government's firm commitments: to the continuing relevance and importance of the arm's length principle; to the continuing central role of the Arts Council as spokesman and agent for the health of the arts in this country; and to ensuring that public funding for the arts is conducted effectively and with economy and efficiency.
The outcome of this review will determine the shape of the Arts Council for the rest of this decade and beyond. As a next step, I have invited the Arts Council to let me have its reactions to Price Waterhouse's report. Clearly, it is important for all concerned that decisions are taken soon, and I very much hope to be able to announce the conclusions I have reached before the summer recess.