§ Dr. Hampsonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total amount spent on the arts by central Government in each year since 1968.
§ Mr. Hugh Jenkins:The table below gives details of the expenditure carried on the Arts Vote for England, Wales and Scotland for the years 1968–74:
Year ended National Museums and Galleries Arts Council and other Arts Total £m. £m. £m. 31st March 1968 6.313 7.729 14.042 31st March 1969 6.891 8.373 15.264 31st March 1970 8.047 9.045 17.092 31st March 1971 10.259 10.780 21.039 31st March 1972 11.869 13.725 25.594 31st March 1973 13.949 16.242 30.191 31st March 1974 12.746* 20.356 33.102 *The total is smaller than for 1973–74 because of the hiving off of the British Library in 1973–74. These figures do not include expenditure by the Government on the buildings of the national museums and galleries, which is largely borne on the vote of the Department of the Environment, nor do the figures take account of Government expenditure on ancient monuments or historic houses. Taking all these items into account, my report last year entitled 4W "Fruits of Patronage" showed that central Government expenditure in 1974–75 is more than £50 million.