Works of Art (Hansard, 24 February 1995)

§ Mr. Menzies Campbell
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Minister within his Department has the responsibility for ensuring the safe keeping of works of art in Ministry of Defence properties.

§ Mr. Soames
My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence is the Minister responsible.

§ Mr. Menzies Campbell
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how often the works of art kept in Ministry of Defence properties have been the subject of an inventory in the last 20 years for which information is available.

§ Mr. Soames
The staff in my Department who manage works of art in our London headquarters buildings carry out frequent inspections as well as asking all senior staff to account for the works in their offices twice each year. In addition, the government art collection inspects each London building about once a year and other lenders of works will inspect their loans whenever necessary.
Outside London, local managers will carry out inspections as they deem necessary and as lenders of works of art require. In recent years, the government art collection has carried out an inventory check of its works of art on loan to my Department's properties outside London every 12 or 15 months.

§ Mr. Menzies Campbell
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the approximate value of the paintings entitled(a) "Woman Carrying a Goat", (b) "Crete" and (c) "A Court Martial Case at Deptford".

§ Mr. Soames
I believe the hon. Member is referring to a print by Michael Ayrton entitled "Woman Carrying a Goat, Crete" which the government art collection values at about £100. The work entitled "A Court Martial Case at Deptford" is a print taken from a publication; the government art collection doubts that it has any commercial value.

§ Mr. Menzies Campbell
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what system is in operation for the allocation of works of art from the government art collection to Ministry of Defence properties.

§ Mr. Soames
Ministers and staff of civil service grades 1 to 3 and their service equivalents with offices in central London buildings may borrow works from the government art collection. In general, officials below grade 1, permanent secretary, are allocated only prints. Works of art are allocated subject to the environmental conditions of the rooms in which they will hang satisfying the government art collection's standards. The government art collection will also lend works of art for display in conference rooms within Whitehall office buildings, reception rooms in official residences and the public areas of the Royal College of Defence Studies.
With a few exceptions, the government art collection ceased lending additional works to my Department's properties in the regions and abroad in 1981, and has since been implementing a policy of withdrawing existing loans for use elsewhere whenever the opportunity arises.

§ Mr. Menzies Campbell
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have been prosecuted for crimes of dishonesty involving works of art kept in Ministry of Defence properties in the last 20 years for which information is available.

§ Mr. Soames
In the past five years, Ministry of Defence police have solved eight cases where works of380W art, both Government and privately owned, were stolen from Ministry of Defence properties. Central records are not kept of the number of prosecutions resulting from these cases and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. A detected case of theft would, however, almost certainly result in prosecution.
Information on cases dating back further than the last five years could he provided only at disproportionate cost.