asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will make a statement on the request from the Tate gallery for assistance to enable it to buy a painting by Georges Braque.

The Government have agreed to make a special purchase grant of £318,000 and have approved an advance from the annual purchase grant of the Tate gallery for 1979£80 of £325,000 to enable that gallery to acquire the painting by Braque"Clarinet and Bottle of Rum on a Mantelpiece ", the total cost of which is about £650,000. The Government contribution has been found from the savings elsewhere in the arts budget. Parliament will be asked to approve this provision in the Supplementary Estimates, published today.