asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total amount spent on the arts by central Government in each year since 1968.

The table below gives details of the expenditure carried on the Arts Vote for England, Wales and Scotland for the years 1968–74:

Year ended	National Museums and Galleries	Arts Council and other Arts	Total
	£m.	£m.	£m.
31st March 1968	6·313	7·729	14·042
31st March 1969	6·891	8·373	15·264
31st March 1970	8·047	9·045	17·092
31st March 1971	10·259	10·780	21·039
31st March 1972	11·869	13·725	25·594
31st March 1973	13·949	16·242	30·191
31st March 1974	12·746*	20·356	33·102
*The total is smaller than for 1973–74 because of the hiving off of the British Library in 1973–74.

These figures do not include expenditure by the Government on the buildings of the national museums and galleries, which is largely borne on the vote of the Department of the Environment, nor do the figures take account of Government expenditure on ancient monuments or historic houses. Taking all these items into account, my report last year entitled "Fruits of Patronage" showed that central Government expenditure in 1974–75 is more than £50 million.