§ Mr. Fauldsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Warley, East, Official Report 30 October, column 478, stating that testators are free to offer works of art in satisfaction of tax conditionally on their passing to the National Art Collections Fund as the ultimate recipient, he will also state if, bearing in mind that in normal circumstances the fund would not retain the ownership of such objects but would transfer it to a public museum in the United Kingdom,
780Wthe United Kingdom in each year since 1970 for manufacturing and for the whole economy, together with his estimate of the corresponding figures for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic and the principal East European countries.
§ Mr. BiffenData for only the United States of America and the United Kingdom are readily available on a broadly comparable basis. These are shown in the table below:
testators in addition remain free to name the National Art Collections Funds as the recipient in the first instance of objects thus offered.
§ Mr. Peter ReesTestators are at liberty to name the National Art Collections Fund as the recipient of objects offered in satisfaction of tax. If such a conditional offer is accepted, the object will be allocated to the fund. The subsequent transfer of the object in question to a public museum or gallery in the United Kingdom is then entirely a matter for the fund's discretion. This has been the position since 1973.