§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to encourage increased commercial sponsorship of the arts. [134368]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthLatest figures show that annual business support for the arts now stands at over £141 million—an impressive figure. My Department and the Arts Council of England are working closely with Arts and Business to increase that figure to £167 million by March 2002. We are actively promoting Arts and Business's New Partners programme, which will encourage businesses to develop closer, deeper and longer-term relationships with arts organisations. We are also providing funding for a new Arts and Business Information Unit, which will commission research to prove that such relationships can be of mutual benefit.