§ Mr. CallaghanTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the Government's activities in the field of the arts since 1987.
§ Mr. BrookeThe Government aim to create the conditions which enable the arts to flourish. This is now the responsibility of my Department, the creation of which indicates the priority that the Government place both on the arts and on the other areas for which it carries responsibility. Most of the Department's funding for the arts is channelled through the Arts Council of Great Britain (ACGB); decisions on funding arts organisations 245W are taken by ACGB at arm's length from Government. Grant-in-aid for the ACGB has risen from £139.3 million in 1987–88 to £225.6 million in 1993–94, an increase of 16 per cent. in real terms.