asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has yet received any information of recommendations made by the Standing Commission for Museums and Galleries on Centres of Excellence; and whether he will make a statement.

I have received advice from the standing commission about a number of museum capital projects which might justify the sympathetic consideration by the Government of possible assistance on the grounds that they were of more than local significance. I am considering this advice but it is by no means certain that any assistance in these cases can be given under present conditions of limited resources.