Oral Answers to Questions — National Heritage – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 3 March 1997.
Mr Rod Richards
, Clwyd North West
12:00,
3 March 1997
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps she is taking to encourage private sector sponsorship of the arts. [16709]
Mr Wyn Roberts
, Conwy
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what discussions she has held on promoting business support for the arts. [16711]
Mr Iain Sproat
, Harwich
The Government's national heritage arts sponsorship scheme, otherwise known as the pairing scheme, was established in 1984 to bring new sponsors into the arts. It continues to be a great success. To date, it has brought more than £115 million of new money into the arts and more than £37 million of awards matching more than £77 million of business sponsorship.
Mr Rod Richards
, Clwyd North West
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that reply. Is he aware that, although the North Wales music festival attracts widespread support from the private sector, it is continually looking for new sponsors? Will he join me in congratulating North Wales Blue Grass festival—[Laughter.] Opposition Members may laugh, but it is not a festival to celebrate the French victory over England at Twickenham on Saturday. Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating North Wales Blue Grass festival on attracting sponsorship from North Wales Independent Press?
Mr Iain Sproat
, Harwich
Yes, I shall certainly join my hon. Friend in doing that. This year in Wales there have been 39 awards totalling £125,000, leading to a total injection into artistic schemes of well over £250,000.
Mr Barry Jones
, Alyn and Deeside
Will the Minister of State accept a joint invitation to St. Asaph's cathedral, where the North Wales music festival takes place? If he does, he will discover that the cathedral's acoustics are perfect; many of our regional orchestras play there. How can he help the festival, which is in dire need of sponsorship?
Mr Iain Sproat
, Harwich
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind invitation to the festival. I am more than willing to take it up, given that he invited me to the Liverpool Philharmonic a couple of years ago and I greatly enjoyed myself. I shall gladly consider the hon. Gentleman's point about the shortage of funds to see whether I can give advice on how to find help.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Pairing is an arrangement between two MPs of opposing parties that allows them, with the agreement of the Pairing Whips, to miss occasional votes in the House. If two Members from opposite sides of the House both agree to miss a vote, then by agreeing to differ they would cancel out each other's vote, so neither Member need turn up. MPs are generally only allowed to pair on votes that are not three-line whips.
Normally, the relationship between pairs is long-lasting and the system brings together some strange bedfellows. Labour MP Marjorie Mowlam and Conservative Cabinet minister Michael Portillo were an established `Pair' before the 1997 General Election.
It is often difficult for new MPs to find an available backbencher to pair with.
Where the government side has a large parliamentary majority, some MPs will be without a pair so, except for crucial votes (some three-line whips), a number of unpaired MPs may be allowed to be absent at specified times on a rota basis. This is known as a bisque.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
