§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Minister for the Arts what has been the total grant by his Department to the Arts Council between 1979–80 and 1987–88.
§ Mr. Luce[pursuant to his reply, 18 December 1986, c. 629]: The information is as follows:
736W
£ million 1979–80 61.476 1980–81 70.470 1981–82 80.361 1982–83 90.850 1983–84 94.580 House, the English National Opera, and the Royal Shakespeare Company directly from his Department; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Luce[pursuant to his reply, 18 December 1986, c. 629–30]: In 1984, the Government rejected the proposal by the Education, Science and Arts Committee that these bodies should be directly funded, and I see no present reason to change that decision.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Minister for the Arts what has been the total amount spent by his Department both directly and indirectly on funding literature in each of the past six years.
§ Mr. Luce[pursuant to his reply, 18 December 1986. c. 630]: My Office gives no direct support to literature. It does, however, give substantial indirect support through three main channels: the Arts Council, the public lending right scheme, and the acquisitions budget of the public library service. Further indirect support comes through the availability of the magnificent collections of the British Library which are extensively used by scholars and authors, the reference part of which will be re-housed in the new building at St. Pancras. The relevant figures, in cash terms, are as follows:
£ million 1984–85 100.000 1985–86 105.000 1986–87 135.600 1987–88 138.400
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Minister for the Arts what are the reasons for using the gross domestic product deflator in calculating the year on year grant charge made in respect of the Arts Council grant; and how the gross domestic product deflator is calculated.
§ Mr. Luce[pursuant to his reply, 18 December 1986, c.629]: The gross domestic product deflator provides a broad measure of inflation in the domestic economy and as such is appropriately used for public expenditure work.
The deflator is calculated by dividing gross domestic product at cash prices by gross domestic product at constant prices.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Minister for the Arts, what has been the change in the core grant paid to the Arts Council in each year between 1979–80 and 1987–88 (a) using the average earnings index and (b) using the retail price index.
§ Mr. Luce[pursuant to his reply, 18 December 1986, c. 629]: Forecasts for the two indices are not published.
The change in the Arts Council's grant year on year to 1985–86, for which the indices are available, is as follows: 737W
Per cent. Using average earnings index Using retail price index 1980–81 -3.9 -1.4 1981–82 +2.1 +2.3 1982–83 +3.2 +5.6 1983–84 -2.7 -0.6 1984–85 -0.8 +0.7 1985–86 -3.3 -0.8