§ Mr. FisherTo ask the Minister for the Arts whether he has taken legal advice on the powers of disposal of the national portrait gallery.
§ Mr. Luce[holding answer 7 November 1988]The national portrait gallery, unlike most of the other national museums and galleries, is governed by a series of Treasury minutes rather than by statute. The trustees' powers of disposal are not made explicit in the Treasury minutes but the legal advice I have is that they very probably do not have any such powers.
I am intending to introduce legislation which will, among other things, grant corporate status to the national portrait gallery trustees. The legislation will make clear what the board's powers and duties are to be, on this and other matters.