§ The Earl of Onslowasked Her Majesty's Government:
What further help they propose to give to the National Heritage Memorial Fund to continue the work of preserving the national heritage.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (The Earl of Avon)The Government recognise as an important part of the national heritage the Adam masterpiece of Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, the contents and ground of Weston Park, Shropshire, and the furniture made by Thomas Chippendale for Nostell Priory in Yorkshire. My noble friend the Minister for the Arts and I accept that the complex negotiations needed to secure the future of these properties will make heavy calls on the National Heritage Memorial Fund on top of the other varied demands facing the fund. The Government are therefore to provide the fund with additional resources. This will mean that, if no other source of funds is available, the fund will be in a position to negotiate solutions which preserve these three estates at reasonable cost to the taxpayer.
The purpose of these negotiations will be to bring about arrangements to transfer the properties by private treaty to institutions concerned with their preservation and public enjoyment. The transfer values will take into account owners' liability to capital taxes. If these negotiations succeed, the general public will benefit by securing access to three important 803WA collections at considerably less cost than would have been possible on the open market.
Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the provision for grant-in-aid to the National Heritage Memorial Fund will be increased to £29 million for 1984–85. Three million pounds of this will be funded from savings elsewhere within Class VIII Vote 4 of £22 million; £7 million of this will be secured through economies in the department's running costs on Class VIII Vote 5; and £15 million from a reduction on the New Town Non-voted Cash Limit DOE/NT 1. There will therefore be no overall increase in public expenditure. The effect of these changes on the relevant cash limits are as set out in the table below.
Existing Cash Limit Increase/Decrease Revised Cash Limit Class VIII Vote 4 92,932,000 +22,000,000 114,932,000 Class VIII Vote 5 171,995,000 -7,000,000 164,995,000 Non-voted Cash Limit DOE/NT 1 46,700,000 -15,000,000 31,700,000