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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of museums on the potential impact on UK culture of returning artefacts to their country of origin.

Museums and galleries in the UK operate independently of HM Government. Decisions relating to the care and management of their collections are a matter for the trustees of each museum, including research into items’ provenance and claims for restitution. Last year, Arts Council England published guidance on the handling of restitution claims and practical advice for museums on this matter.

Some national museums are prevented by legislation from deaccessioning objects in their collections unless, broadly, they are duplicates or unfit for retention. The two exceptions to this are when the objects are human remains less than 1,000 years old, and objects spoliated during the Nazi era. The Government has no plans to change these laws.