Commons Sense

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Important Historical Documents

2021-07-01

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Questions & Answers

Q1 Direct Answer
Barry Sheerman
▸ Context
Documents of historical importance are at risk of being exported from the UK. The questioner seeks to ensure these documents remain in the country.
What steps he is taking to ensure that documents of historical importance are retained in the UK?
Caroline Dinenage
The UK's export control system provides a safety net to protect our national treasures from being sold abroad, whereby Ministers can delay the issuing of an export licence to allow an opportunity for a UK buyer to acquire it. Between 2008 and 2018, 62 items were saved for the nation in this way.
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Q2 Partial Answer
Barry Sheerman
▸ Context
A unique collection of letters from literary figures such as the Brontës, Jane Austen, and Robert Burns has been discovered. There is a need to raise £15 million to keep this collection in the UK.
May I declare an interest as chair of the John Clare Trust, a charitable trust, and one of my daughters is a poet? May I draw the Minister's attention to the fact that we have discovered in recent weeks a beautiful treasure trove of letters from the Brontës, Jane Austen and Robert Burns? It is unique. If we cannot act now and raise £15 million to keep it in this country, it will be broken up and sold at auction in New York. Will the Minister and the Government help us? Could the National Trust, which has huge reserves, help us to keep it in Britain? Most of the literary houses have had a year of no income and are struggling to help and raise this money. We desperately need this collection kept in our country. Will she help and help soon?
Caroline Dinenage
The Government are delighted that a public consortium led by the Friends of the National Libraries has come together to seek to acquire the Honresfield library. We hope that the fundraising campaign is successful and is able to realise its plans to allocate parts of the collection to libraries around the UK, for the benefit of the public. We will, of course, keep a very close eye on this and I know that the Secretary of State is planning to meet the group shortly.
▸ Assessment & feedback
The specific ask about raising £15 million was not directly addressed.
We Will Keep A Very Close Eye On This The Secretary Of State Is Planning To Meet The Group
Response accuracy