Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to prevent illegal online sales of portable antiquities discovered at archaeological sites in the UK.

DCMS funds the Portable Antiques Scheme (PAS), which encouraged the voluntary recording over 100,000 objects in 2014. PAShas an MoU with eBay to monitor any unreported treasures - and calls in the sellers for questioning if illegal sales reported by third parties.PASFinds liasion officers work closely with local police forces when investigating the illegal recovery ofarchaeologicalmaterialfrom the UK. You can find more information on the PAS website -finds.org.uk.