§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether their statutory advisors, English Heritage, are satisfied with the cleaning methods used at the Natural History Museum and with the proposals for the Bird Gallery.
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Baroness Blatch)I understand from the Office of Arts and Libraries that the technique for cleaning the terracotta at the museum was chosen by the museum after controlled tests and following professional advice. Nevertheless, English Heritage have indicated to the museum that they would not want to see the technique repeated.
The museum's proposals for mounting a new dinosaur exhibition in the former Bird Gallery have also aroused the concern of English Heritage for the effect on the character, integrity and spatial quality of the original Waterhouse gallery. The museum and the commission are discussing these questions and questions of procedure, including consultative arrangements.