HL Deb 15 July 1996 vol 574 c46WA
Lord Freyberg

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Under which of the Waverley criteria the Secretary of State for National Heritage seeks to prevent the export of the St. Thomas à Becket chasse sold at Sotheby's on 4th July.

Lord Inglewood

The chasse is now being acquired by the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Victoria and Albert Museum. However, if an application for an export licence for the chasse had been received, the Secretary of State for National Heritage would have decided whether to follow normal practice and grant a licence or whether to refer the application to an Expert Adviser. The Waverley criteria would only have become relevant if the Secretary of State had decided to refer an application, if one had been made, to the Expert Adviser.