Clause 49 - Power to de-accession human remains
Human Tissue Bill
2:30 pm
Dr Andrew Murrison (Westbury, Conservative)
The clause gives powers to bodies to de-accession human remains. My understanding is that its purpose is to allow the remains of indigenous people to be returned to their countries of origin. We welcome this measure, but we are concerned about the drafting. Some of the bodies that are mentioned in the Bill have expressed concerns about the position in which the measure would place their trustees.
The amendment and the new schedule would get round that for all of the bodies that are listed, with the exception of the Museum of London. Under the legislation governing that body, its governors are allowed to de-accession human remains on the authority of a majority of two thirds of the governors, so it is unnecessary to include it in new schedule 1. For the remainder, we propose powers for the trustees of the bodies, all of which are governed by separate Acts. The amendment would make consequential amendments to that legislation to enable the trustees to exercise the powers that we propose to give them.
It is worth pointing out that we are talking about powers, not obligations. I am sure that the Minister will say that it is up to the museums or bodies concerned to de-accession remains; there is no obligation on them. However, we hope very much that they will agree to requests to de-accession and return the remains of indigenous peoples, as that, as I understand it, is the purpose of the clause. I commend the amendment to the Committee and hope that the Minister will accommodate it.