§ Mr. Simon Coombsasked the Minister for the Arts if he will make a statement on the business sponsorship incentive scheme.
§ Mr. LuceThe Government's business sponsorship incentive scheme has been an outstanding success, bringing in £15 million of new money into the arts and attracting 600 new sponsors. During the summer sponsorship continued to grow and there was a marked increase in awards at the maximum amount. This led to the cash-limited annual funds being used up earlier than anticipated. However, I was able to allocate further modest sums to enable the scheme to continue at a reduced maximum amount per head. The scheme will be strengthened next year.