HC Deb 19 July 1996 vol 281 cc718-9W
Mr. Faulds

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if, pursuant to her answer of 11 July,Official Report, columns 250–51, relating to export licences for works of art and museum objects temporarily withheld by her, she will provide equivalent information in respect of the final five cases listed as unresolved in her answer of 16 January, Official Report, column 512. [38196]

Mr. Sproat

[holding answer 18 July 1996]: The information is as follows:

Description of item Valuation (£) Outcome
A painting The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John, by Fra Bartolommeo (1472–1517) 14,000,000 Export licence granted
A painting Lord Willoughby de Broke and his family at breakfast, by Johan Zoffany, c. 1766 3,500,000 Export licence granted
A lady's secretary by Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) 570,000 Acquired by the National Trust
An archive of manuscripts relating to the editing of Principia Mathematica by Sir Isaac Newton, c. 1726 400,000 Export licence granted
A collection of architectural drawings for Trentham Hall signed or annotated by Sir Charles Barry and others, 1834–1914 75,820 Acquired by Stoke on Trent City museum

Mr. Faulds

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to her answer of 11 July,Official Report, column 250, if the valuations of the works of art listed are equivalent to the figures which have to be offered by a United Kingdom museum or gallery in order to warrant a definitive withholding by her of an export licence, or whether the sums required may be varied; and if she will list the items where the figure may vary indicating the factors underlying the variation. [37805]

Mr. Sproat

[holding answer 18 July 1996]: The valuations listed in the answer of 11 July are the fair market prices accepted by Ministers following recommendations made by the reviewing committee on the export of works of art. The principle behind each price is that the vendor should receive a compensating offer from a UK buyer which should not put him in a worse position than had he sold to a foreign buyer. Offers to purchase by a UK museum or gallery must accord with this principle. The listed valuations exclude any value added tax liability, and they may be varied by additional elements including the buyer's premium, the dealer's commission and reasonable conservation costs. They may also be varied by agreement between the parties. My Department is aware that there is a VAT liability to be added to the valuation of the "ideal" bust by Antonio Canova. A private treaty sale may also be negotiated between a vendor and a UK museum or gallery for a figure different from that listed. My Department is aware of negotiations for such a sale in the case of the Il Guercino painting "Erminia finding the wounded Tancred".