To ask the Minister for the Arts what the total grant from the Arts Council to the 12 English regional arts associations is for 1988–89; and what percentage increase this represents over 1987–88.

The total of basic allocations for 1988–89 is £28,946,840, which represents a 2·7 percentage increase over the total of total allocations for 1987–88. Additional development moneys have not yet been allocated by the Arts Council to individual RAAs, but once this is done the increase will be of the order of 3 per cent.

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will publish a table showing (a) his office's grant to the Arts

To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will publish a table which shows the Arts Council grants to (a) the National Theatre, (b) the Royal Shakespeare Company, (c) the English National Opera, and (d) the Royal Opera House, in each year from 1979–80 to 1988–89.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Paisley, South (Mr. Buchan) on 16 February 1988 at column 570.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what additional sum would be required to restore the real value of the Office of Arts and Libraries' grant to the Arts Council to the level of 1979–80.

None. If the Arts Council's grant had remained constant in real terms, it would have been about £112 million in 1988–89. In fact, it will be £127 million excluding post-abolition funding.Mr. Fisher: To ask the Minister for the Arts what additional sum would be required to restore the real value

Council in cash terms in each year since 1979–80 up to and including 1988–89 and

The information requested is follows:

To ask the Minister for the Arts whether he will publish a table which expresses the Arts Council grant to (a) the National Theatre, (b) the Royal Shakespeare Company, (c) the English National Opera and (d) the Royal Opera House in each year from 1979–80 to 1988–89 as a percentage of 1979–80.

The information requested is as follows:of the Arts Council grant to the level of 1979–80 for

The National Theatre and English National Opera would need cash increases of £954,418 and £1,836,964 respectively.The Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House already receive more than the 1979–80 level in real terms.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what additional sum would be required to restore the real value of the Arts Council grant to each of the 12 English regional arts associations to the level of 1979–80.

I have excluded abolition money from the answer, but in every case, the 1988–89 grant is well above the real-terms equivalent of the 1979–80 grant, as the following table shows:

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will publish in the Official Report tables showing (a) the Arts Council's grant to each of the 12 regional arts associations

The information requested is as follows: