Fresh plan to ensure top art stays in UK

NEW protections aimed at stopping some of the UK’S most important artworks and artefacts being sold overseas have been outlined by the Government.

The proposals, set out in a public consultation, would strengthen export deferral rules and give UK museums and buyers a better chance of acquiring items considered to be national treasures.

The Government wants to introduce a mechanism to ensure owners are legally bound to honour their commitment of accepting a matching offer from a UK buyer in order to remove the risk of reneging on the sale. UK museums and buyers would also get first refusal on acquisitions.

Between 2007-2017, 40% of items at risk of export, worth a total of £97 million, stayed in the UK. But the remaining 60% of such items, worth £578.5 million, ended up overseas.

Items that are being sold abroad are assessed when the seller applies for an export license. A committee decides whether the object ought to be regarded as a national treasure, if it is of “outstanding aesthetic importance” or whether it is of academic importance.

A public consultation on the proposals will run until February 24.