§ Mr. BaldryTo ask the Minister for the Arts whether he has any changes to announce in the running cost limit of the Office of Arts and Libraries and in the cash limits of the Votes for which he has responsibility.
§ Mr. LuceSubject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the cash limits for the following votes will be increased by the amounts indicated:
Vote Current cash limit £ Increase £ Revised cash limit £ Class XII Vote 10 17,858,000 100,000 17,958,000 Class XIII Vote 10 176,126,000 8,169,000 184,295,000 Class XIII Vote 12 1,267,000 60,000 1,327,000 Of these increases, £7,429,000 will be charged to the Reserve, and £900,000 will be offset by a cash limit reduction on class XVII, vote 5. There will therefore be no increase in the planned total of public expenditure.
The additions sought are:
£100,000 on class XII, vote 10, to meet the costs of repairing storm damage to the roof of the British museum (natural history);£900,000 on class XII, vote 10, to facilitate the purchase of the Sherman theatre, Cardiff, by the Welsh Arts Council;£7,329,000 on class XIII, vote 10, for payment to Inland Revenue in respect of tax forgone on three major works of art accepted by the nation in lieu of tax;£60,000 on class XIII, vote 12, to meet the additional costs of the Office of Arts and Libraries in respect of the British Library St. Pancras team. This increase is offset by a corresponding saving on the arts marketing scheme (vote 10). The Office of Arts and Libraries running costs limit will increase by £25,000, from £1,268,000 to £1,293,000.