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

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his policy is on the restitution of antiquities from national museums to their country of origin.

Our 15 national museums hold world-class collections in trust for the nation that are seen in their global context by over 40 million visitors each year. Decisions relating to museum collections are a matter for the trustees of each museum, who operate independently of government. UK law prevents some national museums from removing items from their collections. The two exceptions to this are human remains, under 1000 years old, and cultural property spoliated during the Nazi era.

We are committed to supporting our museums in dealing confidently with all aspects of restitution. Our national development agency for museums, Arts Council England, which is sponsored by my department, is currently working to refresh existing sector guidelines on restitution for UK museums.