§ Lord Freybergasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether a decision has been made over the future of the Privy Council silver that was withdrawn from 139WA auction on 29 October 2001; and whether the silver will be presented to a public institution; and [HL2601]
Why assets of cultural significance are included in their policy of reducing their asset holdings in order to focus public resources where they are most needed; and [HL2604]
Whether they will consider donating assets of cultural significance to a public collection rather than allowing them to be sold into private hands, where it is deemed that a government department is not the most appropriate owner; and [HL2605]
Which government departments are required to seek expert advice before disposing of their assets; and who is responsible for assessing the cultural significance of objects. [HL2606]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe Government will continue to require all departments to consider the costs of holding assets and the benefits to their objectives. One of the main advantages of resource accounting and budgeting is that it makes these costs and benefits more transparent. Government finance rules acknowledge the special significance of a wide range of heritage assets, many of which are not valued so that departments do not incur a charge for holding them.
In other cases, the cultural significance of assets is among the benefits which need to be taken into account. The Government are introducing new guidance to ensure that this is done effectively through consultation with the Cultural Property Unit of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. That guidance will take account of lessons learned from the offer for sale of the Treasury's silver items formerly associated with the Privy Council.
As I explained to the House on 29 October (Official Report, col. 1173), the Government concluded in the light of representations that open-market sale was not appropriate in that case. Arrangements are being made for a sale confined to institutions willing to display the items to the UK public.
§ Lord Freybergasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list all the assets of cultural significance that each government department has submitted for auction since October 2001. [HL2603]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThere is no central record of departments submitting assets of cultural significance for sale at auction. However, any significant disposal would be shown in the department's annual accounts. Major asset disposals since 1997 were listed in theNational Assets Register, published in June 2001.