Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are aware of the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery holding human remains in either their original or modified form; and whether they understand any such remains to have been among the items stolen from the museum's archive in September.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
DCMS was alerted by Arts Council England at the end of October to a recent theft incident involving a storage facility operated by Bristol Museums. Fuller details about the scale of that incident were provided by the museum in mid December, at the time a police appeal was launched, following a museum-led audit. The museum holds human remains, however the department is not aware of any human remains being amongst the items stolen.
Museums in England operate independently from the government, and subscribe to ethical codes produced by the sector, and so it is for the museum’s leadership team to ensure the proper care of human remains, with policies kept under review. DCMS’ Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums covers the curation, care and display of human remains in museums, and recommends both the active management and monitoring of human remains storage, and adherence to suitable standards of security, access management and environmental conditions.