PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Art Works: Nigeria (6 January 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has plans to return (a) the Benin Bronzes and (b) other historically and culturally significant artifacts to Nigeria.

Asked by:
Navendu Mishra (Labour)

Museums and galleries in the UK operate independently of the government. Decisions relating to their collections are a matter for the trustees of each museum.

Some national museums are prevented by law from deaccessioning objects in their collections unless, broadly, they are duplicates or unfit for retention. The two exceptions to this are when the objects are human remains that are less than 1000 years old, and objects that were spoliated during the Nazi-era. The Government has no plans to change the law.

Answered by:
Nigel Huddleston (Conservative)
13 January 2022