HC Deb 14 January 1980 vol 976 cc547-9W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much he estimates it will cost to administer the public lending right; and if he will consider increasing the total allocation from its present level of £2 million.

Mr. St. John-Stevas

The annual cost of administering the Public Lending Right Act 1979 has been estimated to be, at November 1978 prices, approximately £600,000. This cost will be met from the central fund for public lending right, for which the Act sets a maximum of £2

whether he will list the works of art and museum objects which are still awaiting allocation, with the respective dates of their acceptance in satisfaction of capital transfer tax.

Mr. Macfarlane

I have been asked to reply.

The following table sets out the items which have been allocated on the advice of the Standing Commission on Museums and Galleries or the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts to public institutions in the United Kingdom during the half year ended 31 December 1979. The second table lists the items which have been accepted in lieu of tax but for which formal allocation procedures have not been completed.

million, less the salary costs of the Registrar. There is provision in the Act for this amount to be increased, with the consent of the Treasury, by statutory instrument, and the possibility of an increase in the central fund will be considered in the context of the Government's plans for public expenditure as a whole. As the hon. Member will know, however, any such possibility is unlikely to arise for the next two financial years.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will seek to amend the Public Lending Right Act to restrict payments to authors from the United Kingdom or from a country with a scheme for which United Kingdom authors are eligible; and if he will give the reasons for his decision.

Mr. St. John-Stevas

I refer the hon. Member to paragraph 2.9 of the consultative document on public lending right, published last December. This explains why no action is proposed for the present.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will confirm that only those libraries which have computerised equipment for recording book loans will be used in the sample proposed in the consultative document on public lending right; why the figure of approximately 70 service points was chosen for the sample; and if he will consider a smaller number.

Mr. St. John-Stevas

To restrict the range of the sample to library service points which have already installed computerised equipment for recording loans would undermine the statistical validity of the sample. It is proposed, however, that the selection of individual service points for the sample should, so far as is possible within the constraints of a stratified random sample, take into account any special difficulties which might be posed by the selection of particular service points. The figure of approximately 70 service points is proposed in the light of the conclusion of the Technical Investigation Group in 1975, that a sample of this size was the minimum consistent with an acceptable degree of accuracy. I am of course ready to consider during the

Attendance in 1979 Percentage Increase/Decrease on 1978
British Museum … … … … 3,371,236 -16.4
Imperial War Museum … … … … 1,418,522 -1.1
National Gallery … … … … 2,577,723 +3.1
National Maritime Museum … … … … 1,102,000 -12.5
(estimate)
National Portrait Gallery … … … … 388,553 -8.5
Science Museum … … … … 4,958,417 -0.3
Tate Gallery … … … … 1,146,499 +6.1
Victoria and Albert Museum … … … … 1,991,741 +3.0
Wallace Collection … … … … 128,157 -11.5