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23 Jan 2008 : Column WA45
23 Jan 2008 : Column WA45
23 Jan 2008 : Column WA45
Wednesday 23 January 2008
Arts: Funding
Baroness Howells of St Davids asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why, in the light of the McMaster Review into excellence in the arts, a number of arts venues, such as the Bush Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, are facing cuts to funding on quantitative grounds. [HL1281]
Lord Davies of Oldham: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, announced in October last year that grant in aid for Arts Council England would rise to £467 million by 2010-11—an increase of £50 million over current levels.
The Arts Council operates at arm's length from the Government and decisions about which arts organisations to fund are entirely for it.
Arts Council England takes decisions on the basis of the objectives in its royal charter “to develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and practice of the arts” and “to increase accessibility of the arts to the public in England”.
23 Jan 2008 : Column WA46
The McMaster Review of excellence considered strategic issues of how we can best support artistic excellence. It makes a number of recommendations for the overall system of support for the arts, to be implemented over a number of years. It did not consider funding of individual organisations.
Energy: Coal Imports
Lord Mason of Barnsley asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the total tonnage of coal imported into the United Kingdom during each of the years 2001 to 2007; from which countries the coal was imported; what was the estimated cost; and what was the estimated tonnage imported to South Yorkshire during those years. [HL1368]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): The total tonnage of coal imported into the United Kingdom during each of the years 2001 to 2006 on a country of origin basis is summarised below. The total value of imports is also included. Data for 2007 will not be available until later this year.
| Thousand tonnes | ||||||
| Country | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
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