Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Thursday 22nd November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

I met the great lover of the arts’ junior Minister, the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bath (Mr Foster), only yesterday, and my Department has regular communications with the Department for Communities and Local Government. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we managed to keep the cuts to national portfolio organisations down to 15% or less, and we have massively increased the national lottery share for the arts. However, we do, of course, take concerns about local authority funding seriously.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that funding for the arts through the national lottery has vastly increased because of the changes made by this Government?

[Mr Vaizey]

Absolutely. We increased the share for the arts and for heritage from 16% to 20%, which means that the arts will get hundreds of millions of pounds more of lottery funding.