Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether guidance has been issued to staff procuring art for display on the Parliamentary Estate encouraging them to choose pieces from (a) BAME, (b) LGBTQ+, (c) female and (d) disabled artists; and if he will make a statement.

The acquisition of artworks to the Parliamentary Art Collection is decided upon by the Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art.

It has been a focus of the Committee’s work over the past 15 or so years to actively improve diversity in the Collection, both in terms of the artworks and the artists represented. The curatorial staff work to enable this aspiration to be achieved by the Committee.

Recent examples of this focus are the acquisition of a bust of Olaudah Equiano, a commissioned portrait of Bernie Grant MP and works from the ‘209 Women’ project, all of which are on display in Portcullis House (Atrium and first floor corridor).

A new Committee has just been appointed and will be considering this matter further as they review policies and collecting priorities.