§ Lady HermonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the amount of Lottery Art Fund money being made available for the re-development of the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. [168471]
§ Angela SmithSince 1996 the Arts Council Lottery Fund has made awards totalling £95,000 towards proposals for the re-development of the Lyric Theatre. The Council also awarded £2 million in-principle in December 2003 towards the costs, estimated at £117 million, of rebuilding the Theatre on its current site. With an annual income of approximately £7 million (dependent on ticket sales) the Arts Council is not in a position to make large capital awards.
Decisions on individual arts lottery awards are a matter for the Arts Council and are made independently of Government, although I welcome the awards made.
The current condition of the Lyric Theatre is one of a number of identified weaknesses in Belfast's arts infrastructure. My Department is working with the Arts Council to develop an investment strategy for addressing these deficiencies, building on the lottery funding already committed by the Arts Council.