§ Mr. Raphael Tuckasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will institute a series of regional conferences with a view to stimulating public awareness of the need for and the value of a thriving policy for the arts; and if she will encourage local authorities to make adequate provision to this end.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsIt is the function of the Arts Council of Great Britain as laid down in its charter to improve knowledge, understanding and practice of the arts and to increase their accessibility to the public. The Council continually seeks to implement these objectives with the help of the grant which my department makes to it. My noble Friend the Minister with responsibility for the arts visits the regions frequently and extensively and encourages all local interests to support the arts within the means of their disposal. I myself will speak at a conference later this month on the future of the arts whose well-being is an objective of Government policy.