To ask the Minister for the Arts what funds are available for the study of Arabic history and art.

No funds are allocated specifically by the Office of Arts and Libraries for the study of Arabic history and art.

I should like to ask the Minister a question, of which I have given him notice. What response has he made to Professor Akbar Ahmed of Cambridge about the squandering of our legacy of scholarship in the Arab languages and the study of Arab history? Could the Minister say anything about the removal of the famous Islamic collection in Kuwait? May not it be just as well that that has been taken elsewhere temporarily, simply because of the pounding that Kuwait may well receive in a land battle?

On the hon. Gentleman's first point, I am not aware of any squandering of the funding that is needed for Arabic studies at the universities or the university museums. Funding for the universities and the university museums is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science. I understand that allocations are made by the Universities Funding Council to individual universities in answer to specific bids. Such allocations will, of course, include Arabic studies.

In answer to the hon. Gentleman's second point, it is, alas, sadly true that the contents of the Kuwait museum of Islamic antiquities have been removed by the Iraqis. It is one of the finest collections of Islamic art in the world. For the hon. Gentleman in any sense to take any comfort in the fact that that collection has been taken elsewhere is absolutely astonishing. It is an example of Iraqi pillage and of the despoiling of Kuwait.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what progress is being made in promoting Gift Aid; and what support the scheme is achieving.

A number of arts organisations have already received gifts under Gift Aid. This follows major initiatives to publicise this very imaginative scheme by the Arts Council and the Museum and Galleries Commission, through their tax guide, and the National Arts Collection Fund through its Gift Aid for Art register.

May I say how welcome it is that so many people and bodies are taking advantage of this scheme? Has not the time come for it to be extended from gifts of cash to gifts in kind? Is my right hon. Friend aware that considerable success has been achieved in Australia and in the United States by allowing tax reliefs for gifts in kind? Could not such a scheme be accepted in this country?

I appreciate what my hon. Friend has said. It is satisfactory that a number of bodies such as the Aldeburgh Festival, the English National Opera and the Tate have recently been able to make use of Gift Aid donations. As to the second point, plans to extend Gift Aid to cover gifts in kind are interesting, but as my hon. Friend will know, the decision on this matter rests with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Is the Minister aware that, while many of us in Wales are pleased with Gift Aid in that it has bailed out the Welsh National Opera and other companies, we are worried that funding is being kept from organisations such as the Association of Artists and Designers in Wales, which gives funds to individual painters and sculptors? Is the Minister aware that, while the great institutions may thrive on such aid, individual artists are bereft of funds?

I should have thought that the hon. Gentleman would be singing from the tops of the mountains about the help given to Welsh National Opera, and would be particularly grateful to the Welsh Office for the substantial sums that it has put forward to wipe off the accumulated deficit. The hon. Gentleman's other point should be pursued with the Welsh Arts Council. He should be suggesting that it should be studying the issue of direct grants to individual craftsmen in Wales.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the success of the scheme would be even greater were it not for the fact that, in some parts of the country, there is difficulty in obtaining Gift Aid certificates? Will he have a word with the Chancellor to ensure that there is an adequate supply of these documents, so that people can press ahead with such schemes?

I thank my right hon. Friend. I am interested to hear him say that. One or two other examples of it being difficult to obtain Gift Aid forms have been mentioned to me before. I immediately pursued the matter, to make certain that the forms were available to any charity or artistic organisation that wanted them. If he will let me know the names of any organisation that is missing the forms, I shall follow that up.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what contribution the business community is making in both financial and manpower resources in supporting the arts.

To ask the Minister for the Arts what role the business community is playing in supporting the arts through the Business in the Arts scheme.

I am delighted that the business community is continuing its splendid support of the arts, with sponsorship now standing at around £35 million per annum. Business also provides professional advice to arts organisations through business in the arts, which my Department helps to fund.

Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating a number of businesses in the Chelmsford area, which have generously sponsored arts activities such as the Chelmsford cathedral festival each year? Is not it significant that 70 per cent. of the business sponsorship incentive scheme money goes to the arts outside London?

I thank my hon. Friend for his support for this imaginative scheme. I am delighted to hear of the sponsorship of the Chelmsford cathedral festival. I agree that it is satisfactory that so much of the money through the business sponsorship incentive scheme is not spent in the capital but is widely distributed throughout the United Kingdom.

What contribution is the business community making to arts organisations in terms of the provision of management skills? Does my right hon. Friend agree that, in many ways, this is as valuable as contributions in cash? In how many cases has such help been given?

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. It is true that advice from sympathetic business men on how better to run festivals and artistic performances is useful. Business in the Arts has 60 consultants in a register of management advisers. It made 48 placements in London alone in the current year and is hoping to increase that to 80 in the year ahead. There are a number of interesting illustrations.

For example, an accounts manager from IBM is advising the Tricycle theatre in Kilburn on the design and analysis of an audience research questionnaire. More and more groups of artists are finding that business help is useful.

Does the Minister recall that during the previous Session I asked a question about a number of paintings and pieces of silver that the previous Prime Minister had stored away at Downing street? I was told that there were 72 different items at No. 10, including paintings from the National gallery. Can we be assured that the various paintings and pieces of silver have now been returned to their rightful owners, or could it be that the right hon. Member for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher) has set up an antiques business somewhere?

I am pleased to see the hon. Gentleman back in his place. When questions to the Minister for the Arts were last before the House, the hon. Gentleman was missing. On that occasion he had tabled a question on support for Welsh National Opera. I am sorry that we missed him on that occasion. I have no doubt that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will consider carefully the hon. Gentleman's question and go on to consider whether he should add to the beautiful objects in No. 10, change them or whatever. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to act as artistic adviser to the Prime Minister.

What contribution does the Minister expect the business community to make to the arts in London, precisely? Does he expect it to bail out the Government from their incompetent handling of the future of Greater London Arts? He will know that the director of GLA left last week and that it has no finance director, music officer or literature officer. What does the right hon. Gentleman propose for the 200-odd clients of GLA and for all the London music societies that are left without funding? Will he give them to the business community or will he do something himself to save the arts in London?

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on retaining his position as shadow Minister for the Arts. I was rather fearful that we might have heard him call "crisis" from the Opposition Front Bench for the last time, and that he might be concentrating on his full-time duty as minute secretary of his notorious supper club. It is good to hear him in comparable voice. There is no crisis in London arts and there is no need for them to be bailed out. The hon. Gentleman will know that the London Arts Board has been set up as an autonomous committee within the Arts Council. That is how it will be run for a maximum of two years.