§ 107. Mr. RiddickTo ask the Minister for the Arts how he intends to encourage more private and corporate donations to the arts.
§ Mr. LuceI announced on 5 November a three-year settlement for the arts, which maintained the level of support and emphasised the importance I attach to incentive funding, so as to encourage subsidised arts bodies to become more self-reliant. The Arts Council is working up a new scheme for this purpose. Among arrangements already in place, my business sponsorship incentive scheme is an excellent example of how taxpayers' money can be used to attract more private sector funds, and I propose to raise it by 70 per cent, to £3 million next year. Other fund-raising opportunities for the arts have been provided by the payroll giving scheme and recent reliefs on corporation tax for company donations.