§ 32. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State answering in respect of the Arts what increment will be allocated to the West Midlands Regional Arts Association for the 1985–86 financial year; to what extent this takes into account the previous financial year's rate of inflation; and what consideration was given to the requirements of the five regionally-based symphony orchestras before his decision was taken.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe Arts Council's grant to west midlands arts for 1985–86 will be in two parts a basic grant of £1.145 million which provides a 3.1 per cent. increase over the current year's allocation to take account of inflation, and an additional sum, to be announced at the end of March, as a share of the £3 million available for the council's development strategy. The needs of the regionally-based symphony orchestras have been considered separately from the grants to regional arts associations.