§ Mr. Dormand asked the Minister for the Arts whether he will increase the grant to the British Film Institute; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Luce[pursuant to his reply. 9 December 1985, c. 620–21]I am now able to announce further details of the arts budget for 1986–87, including the allocation for the British Film Institute.
The central Government element of the arts and libraries programme has been set at £321 million for 1986–87, an increase of nearly 18 per cent. in cash over the corresponding provision for 1985–86. Subject to parliamentary approval of the Supply Estimates, I propose the main 1986–87 allocations listed below. The greater part of the increase reflects the additional central funding for the performing arts, film and museums, following the abolition of the Greater London council and the metropolitan county councils. The grants to most bodies directly supported from my central Government programme will be broadly in line with the provisional forward planning figures for 1986–87 given to them last January. But it has been possible in some cases to make modest additional provision for new developments or other special needs.
As I announced to the House on 14 November 1985 at columns 700–710, the grant to the Arts Council in 1986–87 will be £135.6 million, including increased central post-abolition funding of £25 million. The grant to the British Film Institute will be £9.738 million (20 per cent. more than in 1985–86): this includes £1.3 million for post-abolition funding, and a further £0.3 million above its provisional planning figure to help with matching funding for film production and with the Institute's accommodation needs.
For the major museums and galleries affected by the abolition of the GLC and metropolitan county councils, I propose the following arrangements.
36WFirst, an order in council will be made under section 46 of the Local Government Act 1985 to establish a new trustee body with responsibility for the bulk of the museums and galleries hitherto administered by Merseyside county council. A grant-in-aid of £8.745 million will be made to the trustee body for these institutions in 1986–87
Secondly, a grant-in-aid of £1.075 million will be made in 1986–87 to the existing trustee body responsible for the Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, which has hitherto been funded by Greater Manchester county council.
Thirdly, subject to the enactment of the Museum of London Bill currently before the House, the Government's grant to that museum will be increased to £2.25 million in 1986–87, reflecting the proposal in the Bill that the Government's share of the museum's main budget will be raised from the present one-third to one-half.
Fourthly, I am allocating an additional £1¼ million to the Museums and Galleries Commission for pump-priming grants to other museums and gallery services affected by abolition.
Finally, some provision for certain affected museums is being channelled separately, as follows: for the Manchester university museum and Whitworth gallery, through the University Grants Committee; for the London historic house museums, through the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission; and the Geoffrye and Horniman museums will be maintained by the Inner London Education Authority, whose expenditure limit and grant-related expenditure assessment for 1986–87 take account of this transfer.
I will be making a separate announcement in due course following the recent consultations on arrangements for the treatment of revenue generated by the nine national museums and galleries for which I am responsible. That announcement will also cover the provision to be made in 1986–87 for those institutions' purchase grants, other net running costs, and the building and maintenance programme undertaken for them by the Property Services Agency.
Meanwhile, as regards the other institutions in the museum field for which I am responsible, the grant to Sir John Soane's museum in 1986–87 will be £250,000, including a supplementary allocation towards the improvement of its building and facilities; and, for the Museums and Galleries Commission. I am making additional provision for increased staffing and accommodation requirements and for the establishment of a new Conservation Unit to provide advice on conservation facilities and on training opportunities available throughout the country. The £1½ million conservation grant fund administered by the commission, introduced two years ago, will be continued in 1986–87, as will the existing schemes of grants for Area Museum Councils and for purchases and capital development by local museums.
As in 1985–86, the grants to the Crafts Council and the National Film and Television school will in 1986–87 include modest additional provision for special regional or capital developments during the year. A token sum is allocated to the South Bank Theatre Board, which is to be wound up as soon as its responsibilities for settling the outstanding accounts for the initial construction and equiping of the National theatre building have been discharged. The voted provision for the National Heritage memorial fund and for acceptances of art objects in lieu 37W of tax (both of which also receive corresponding sums from Department of the Environment votes) will remain at the same level as in 1985–86. The new arrangements for supplementing the acceptance in lieu provision, announced on 26 July last [Official Report, Vol, 83, Col. 777], will of course continue to apply.
In view of the sustained success of the business sponsorship incentive scheme launched in 1984, I have decided to make a further increase in its allocation, to £1¾ million next year. This should yield some £6 million or more from combined public and private sources for sponsored activities in arts bodies. I shall keep under careful review the arrangements for 1:1 matching grants for first-time sponsorship and 1:3 matching grants for additional sponsorship.
The recurrent grant to the British Library will be increased to £49.8 million in 1986–87, including an allowance towards initial expenditure on its corn stores storage project for its lending division in Boston Spa. Provision will be made on the Property Services Agency vote for continued expenditure on construction of the present stage of the Library's new St. Pancras building, and for net expenditure on the Library's existing accommodation. I am making a separate announcement about the next stage of the St. Pancras project.
The grant to the Royal Commission on historical manuscripts will be raised to £0.54 million next year, including a special allowance for computerisation of its records. The ceiling for the public lending right scheme, which was substantially increased to £2¾ million in 1985–86, will remain at that level in 1986–87.
These allocations are within the arts and libraries programme total given in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Autumn Statement. Plans for 1987–88 and 1988–89 will be summarised in the next Public Expenditure White Paper, and will be subject to annual review. Provisional planning figures for those years will be communicated to the arts bodies concerned early in the Next Year.
Details of the main allocations covered by today's announcement for 1986–87, compared with the provision originally made for 1985–86 (as amended by Supplementary Estimates where relevant), are set out in the following table.
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Table of Main Allocations million (cash) 1985–86 1986–87 Arts Arts Council 105.000 135.600 British Film Institute 8.075 9.738 National Film and Television School 1.120 1.100 Crafts Council 1.880 1.925 Government Art Collection purchases 0.153 0.155 Business sponsorship incentive scheme 1.250 1.750 South Bank Theatre Board 0.200 0.001 Heritage National Heritage memorial fund (OAL share) 1.500 1.500 Acceptances in lieu (OAL Vote share) 1.000 1.000 Museums and Galleries Museums and Galleries Commission: Administration 0.380 0.596 Grants to area museum councils etc 2.726 2.781 Local museum purchase grants 1.282 1.282 Post-abolition grant scheme — 1.250 Museum of London 1.372 2.250 Merseyside museums and galleries — 8.745
1985–86 1986–87 Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry — 1.075 Sir John Soane's museum 0.232 0.250 Libraries British Library current grant 48.254 49.800 British Library capital/maintenance (PSA) 7.245 9.861 Royal Geographical Society 0.054 0.054 Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts 0.412 0.540 Public lending right scheme 2.750 2.750