On 3rd February the House of Lords debated the issue of funding for the arts. This was a wide-ranging and very informed debate across the broad spectrum of arts, culture and heritage.

Whilst archives does not often get a proper airing when Parliament and others discuss broader arts issues, the APG Archives have succeeded in raising the profile of archives within such debates.

Lord Freyberg, the conceptual artist, spoke in the debate to highlight concerns about the lack of clear intentions on the part of the Government in terms of a future policy home for archives post MLA abolitions. His remarks were picked up by Labour Peer and forner Chairman of Faber & Faber, Lord Evans of Temple-Guiting.

Increasing the number of interventions in Parliamentary debates to highlight the issues of concern to the archives sector is a key aim of the APG Archives & History and the Group Officers meet on Wendesday of this week to consider further actions in pursuit of this objective.