Andrew Dismore (Hendon, Labour)

I beg to move amendment 3, in clause 2, page 2, line 2, at end insert—

‘The Board of Trustees for the National Galleries of Scotland,’.

Frank Cook (Stockton North, Labour)

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: amendment 4, in clause 2,page 2, line 3, after ‘The’ insert ‘Board of’.

Andrew Dismore (Hendon, Labour)

The purpose of these amendments is to get the list of institutions empowered to transfer complete and accurately named. When we were drafting the Bill it was difficult because some institutions have a board, some trustees and some a board of trustees. We had to make sure that we got the right terminology and that the list was complete. We have added the Scottish museums, libraries and galleries, Merseyside, the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens. I cannot envisage Kew having any plants that it would need to return, but it has its own library and art collection, so it is a belt-and-braces job. I cannot honestly see Kew Gardens being in the position of having to return an object, but one never knows. Basically, this is a tidying-up exercise to make sure that we have the list complete and to cater for Scotland.

Lembit Öpik (Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)

This is an entirely technical modification and I am sure that I speak for the entire Opposition in supporting these amendments.

Barbara Follett (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Culture), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Stevenage, Labour)

The Government support these amendments. They add the various institutions to the list of bodies to which the Bill applies. Those include the board of trustees for the National Galleries of Scotland, the trustees of the National Library of Scotland, and the board of trustees of the National Museums of Scotland. As I mentioned on Second Reading, we were in touch with the Scottish Executive about whether they wanted to be included in the Bill. They have since confirmed that they wish to have their national museums included because, as with English national museums, there are statutory restrictions in place that could prevent de-accessioning.

Amendment 4 changes the reference to the trustees of the National Gallery to refer to the board of trustees of the National Gallery because that is the full name given to them by the Museums and Galleries Act 1992. The position of the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside in terms of their ability to de-accession items from their collection was unclear at the time of Second Reading, but we are now satisfied that they need to be included and they are added by amendment 6.

Amendment 7 adds the trustees of the Natural History Museum and the board of trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. I should say that Kew has a magnificent collection of botanic art, and this is an area in which we could have de-accessioning requests. We have therefore added Kew to the list of bodies to which the Bill applies.

Inclusion on the list follows discussions with officials of the organisations and confirmation that the power is necessary.