To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much subsidy from public funds has been provided to the arts in each year since 1987.

Government funding for the arts is channelled mainly through the Arts Council of Great Britain. The Arts Council's grant-in-aid for each year since 1987 is set out in the table.

Year	£ thousand
1987–88	139,300
1988–89	152,411
1989–90	155,500
1990–91	175,792
1991–92	1194,200
1992–93	221,200
1993–94	225,630
1 This excludes a special payment of £10–8 million to enable the English National Opera to buy the freehold of the Coliseum.

The Government also fund the business sponsorship incentive scheme, the theatres restoration fund and various research projects. For 1993–94, total central Government expenditure additional to the Arts Council's grant-in-aid will be approximately £5·6 million.Local authorities also fund activities, but no definitive figures on their overall expenditure are available.