Earl of Clancarty
Main Page: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
The Earl of Clancarty
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage the provision of arts at a local level.
Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, Her Majesty’s Government will invest more than £2.2 billion in the arts over the next four years via Arts Council England. This money will support artists and organisations working at every level, from small community arts groups to our major national institutions.
The Earl of Clancarty
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply. However, in view of the fact that we already have unacceptable levels of funding to the arts locally—100 per cent cuts have been made by some local authorities—and that we are just at the beginning of this, does the Minister agree that what is urgently required is the introduction of a statutory obligation on local authorities to provide proper funding of the arts and cultural services, since these are such a necessary part of the life of local communities?
Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, I understand fully the thrust behind the question of the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, but we feel that imposing a statutory duty would also place added burdens upon local government at a time when deregulation is a priority. We want to continue to give the funding responsibility to local communities and local authorities so that they can take the decisions which are most appropriate for their area, rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all model of cultural provision.