Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they last discussed the return of artefacts of disputed ownership held in the British Museum with (1) a visiting head of state, or (2) another government.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government has regular discussions with visiting heads of state and other governments about a range of issues. If items owned by the British Museum are raised in such discussions, HM Government makes clear that decisions about such items are a matter for the Trustees of the British Museum, that the Museum is prohibited by law from deaccessioning items from its collection, and that we have no plans to change the law. The Government also highlights the extensive work the British Museum does with scholars and cultural institutions around the world to deepen understanding about all the items in its collection, and to ensure that the widest possible audience can learn from and admire them.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 20 September (HL9874), how many of the 3.5 million items not in the British Museum's public database were looted from Africa in the course of British military actions launched against African nations.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
It is not possible to answer the Noble Lord’s question without unpacking the loaded terms contained within it. The British Museum, like so many other institutions, seeks to provide detailed contextual information about all the items in its collection, so that scholars, visitors, and members of the public from around the world can engage with them and form their own views about them. Examples of ways in which the Museum does that can be found on the sections of its website which deal with:
items taken during the punitive raid on Benin City in February 1897: https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/benin-bronzes; and
items taken during the military expedition of 1867 to free British hostages and punish Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia: https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/maqdala-collection
The British Museum’s African collections as a whole are well-catalogued, and the Museum has undertaken extensive documentation and history work, including on the collections highlighted above. The British Museum continues actively to research its collections, and its records are updated regularly with references to military looting where evidence is found.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property of 1970 in relation to (1) their responsibilities for the governance of the British Museum, and (2) the role and responsibilities of its Trustees.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government expects UK museums to have and to follow appropriate policies and procedures to prevent the acquisition of cultural property contrary to the provisions of the UNESCO 1970 Convention.
The British Museum requires compliance with the Convention and with all other national and international standards, as stated in its ‘Acquisitions of Objects for the Collection’ policy and its ‘Due diligence procedures for works of art and cultural objects on loan from abroad for temporary exhibitions’.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 20 September (HL9874), what plans they have to support the International Training Programme; how many African museum curators have benefited from it in each of the past three years; and from which countries they have come.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Over the past three years, 16 museum curators from across Africa have participated in the British Museum’s International Training Programme; this includes participants from the following countries and institutions:
2023
Archeological Enfidha Museum, Tunisia
National Museum, Nigeria
Unity Museum, Nigeria
National Museums of Kenya, Kenya
Imhotep Museum, Egypt
Alexandria National Museum, Egypt
2022
Luxor Museum, Egypt
Akhenaton Museum, Egypt
Sudan National Museum, Sudan
Unity Museum, Nigeria
The National Institute of Heritage, Tunisia
2021
Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, Ghana
Edo Global Art Foundation, Nigeria
Sudan National Museum, Sudan
Gebal Barkal Museum, Sudan
More details on the International Training Programme, including its funders, can be found in the annual reports that the British Museum publishes: https://www.bmitpglobalnetwork.org/publications/annual-reports/.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) whether the items held by the British Museum looted from Britain’s former colonial possessions in West Africa, or during Britain’s historic military expeditions on that continent, have been catalogued; and (2) the extent of knowledge of the contents of such collections.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The British Museum has 8 million objects in its collection, with 4.5 million currently on the Museum’s public database. The Museum is undertaking an ongoing digitisation project which will ensure that all the objects in its care will be catalogued and available to its global audience on its public database.
The Museum’s collections from Africa are well-catalogued, to the benefit of the public and researchers from across the world. The Museum undertakes extensive research into its collections, including in partnership with African institutions. This is available online at: https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/projects.
The British Museum also has strong links with a variety of African partners. Since 2005, through the Africa Programme, the Museum has worked collaboratively with partner institutions to deliver training and workshops in museum practice in a number of African countries. Colleagues from across Africa also travel to the UK for project-based work placements at the Museum and in its partner museums across the UK. The world-leading annual International Training Programme run by the Museum also offers opportunities for African colleagues to meet peers from global heritage institutions.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have received representations from foreign governments or other interested parties regarding items in the British Museum’s collections looted from former British colonial possessions in West Africa or Ethiopia in the light of recent concerns over the security of the museum’s collections.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government has not received any such representations.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have asked the trustees of the British Museum for a complete list of items lost, stolen or damaged while in its custody over each of the past 10 years, and when an inventory of such items will be published.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department is closely monitoring the situation at the British Museum, and engaging directly with the Museum on this concerning issue.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has spoken with the Chairman of the British Museum about this issue on a number of occasions and has sought assurances on the immediate measures that have been put in place to increase security at the Museum. She has also sought assurances on the details of the scope and timetable for the independent review of security which the Museum has instigated, led by a former trustee, Nigel Boardman, and the Chief Constable of British Transport Police, Lucy D’Orsi.
The matter is also currently under investigation by the Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police. The British Museum is working with the police to support their investigations.
My department and I will continue to work closely with the British Museum – and the wider museums sector – to ensure that lessons are learned from this incident once the independent review is complete.
Further details on this matter have been set out in the Written Statements which the Secretary of State and I made to Parliament on 4 September 2023 (HCWS994 and HLWS979).
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact upon the reputation of the British Museum caused by recent concerns over the security of its collections; and whether they have any plans to review the museum’s governance.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department is closely monitoring the situation at the British Museum, and engaging directly with the Museum on this concerning issue.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has spoken with the Chairman of the British Museum about this issue on a number of occasions and has sought assurances on the immediate measures that have been put in place to increase security at the Museum. She has also sought assurances on the details of the scope and timetable for the independent review of security which the Museum has instigated, led by a former trustee, Nigel Boardman, and the Chief Constable of British Transport Police, Lucy D’Orsi.
The matter is also currently under investigation by the Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police. The British Museum is working with the police to support their investigations.
My department and I will continue to work closely with the British Museum – and the wider museums sector – to ensure that lessons are learned from this incident once the independent review is complete.
Further details on this matter have been set out in the Written Statements which the Secretary of State and I made to Parliament on 4 September 2023 (HCWS994 and HLWS979).
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they were first informed of concerns about security at the British Museum; and what action the museum’s trustees were asked to undertake to address those concerns.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department is closely monitoring the situation at the British Museum, and engaging directly with the Museum on this concerning issue.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has spoken with the Chairman of the British Museum about this issue on a number of occasions and has sought assurances on the immediate measures that have been put in place to increase security at the Museum. She has also sought assurances on the details of the scope and timetable for the independent review of security which the Museum has instigated, led by a former trustee, Nigel Boardman, and the Chief Constable of British Transport Police, Lucy D’Orsi.
The matter is also currently under investigation by the Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police. The British Museum is working with the police to support their investigations.
My department and I will continue to work closely with the British Museum – and the wider museums sector – to ensure that lessons are learned from this incident once the independent review is complete.
Further details on this matter have been set out in the Written Statements which the Secretary of State and I made to Parliament on 4 September 2023 (HCWS994 and HLWS979).
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are confident that the full extent of losses sustained through the recent spate of thefts from the British Museum is known.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department is closely monitoring the situation at the British Museum, and engaging directly with the Museum on this concerning issue.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has spoken with the Chairman of the British Museum about this issue on a number of occasions and has sought assurances on the immediate measures that have been put in place to increase security at the Museum. She has also sought assurances on the details of the scope and timetable for the independent review of security which the Museum has instigated, led by a former trustee, Nigel Boardman, and the Chief Constable of British Transport Police, Lucy D’Orsi.
The matter is also currently under investigation by the Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police. The British Museum is working with the police to support their investigations.
My department and I will continue to work closely with the British Museum – and the wider museums sector – to ensure that lessons are learned from this incident once the independent review is complete.
Further details on this matter have been set out in the Written Statements which the Secretary of State and I made to Parliament on 4 September 2023 (HCWS994 and HLWS979).