§ Mr. Mark RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps he is taking to promote business sponsorship of the arts.
§ Mr. DorrellOver the last 20 years, businesses have increasingly recognised the commercial benefits that flow from their links with excellence in the arts. The Government have welcomed and actively encouraged this trend, and the resulting strengthening of the arts economy. Growth in business sponsorship has been developed and maintained by the efforts of the Association for Business Sponsorship of the Arts, and through the Government's own business sponsorship incentive scheme, which since it inception in 1984 has attracted more than £82 million in new money to the arts.