§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Under Secretary of State answering in respect of the Arts, in the light of the proposals in the White Paper, "Streamlining the Cities", if he will permit the Arts Council to use Exchequer finance to make good any shortfall in local authority contributions.
§ Mr. WaldegraveIt is for the Arts Council to decide, within the resources available to it, what grants to make to individual arts bodies and activities in the light of its judgment of their artistic merits, their financial needs, and the extent of funding from other sources. The Government's proposals envisage that additional funding will be provided to the Arts Council in respect of a small number of arts bodies and activities which are of special national significance and have hitherto relied substantially on the Greater London council and the metropolitan county councils for support.