§ Mr. FisherTo ask the Minister for the Arts what information he has on reductions in(a) book fund expenditure, (b) opening hours and (c) the number of public libraries in the current financial year, by public library authority.
§ Mr. MellorI will not have a full picture of public library expenditure in England for 1990–91 until the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy has published its statistics early in 1992. I am aware of reductions by some library authorities in book fund expenditure, opening hours and temporary closure of branches. I particularly deplore the decision of Derbyshire county council to close 11 libraries about which I am making inquiries.
§ Mr. FisherTo ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will publish a table showing the rate per loan of the public lending scheme for the years in which the scheme has operated(a) in cash terms and (b) adjusted for retail prices index inflation.
§ Mr. MellorThe table shows the public lending right scheme rate per loan in cash terms, and in real terms using the Government's gross domestic product deflator.
Year Rate per loan Cash pence At 1989–90 prices pence 1983–84 1.02 1.40 1984–85 0.92 1.20 1985–86 1.27 1.58 1986–87 1.20 1.44 1987–88 1.12 1.28 1988–89 1.45 1.54 1989–90 1.39 1.39