Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to prevent the sale of Polish art which was looted during World War 2.

The Government provides guidance for the UK art market to assist them in determining the history of cultural objects in which they deal. Additionally, Arts Council England provides a Cultural Property Advice website which offers advice to the art trade, museums and private individuals on the buying and selling of art. The trade associations for the UK art market publish codes of ethics for their members which the Government expects to see enforced.

In September 2017, DCMS hosted an international Conference, attended by the major auction houses, which explored ways of speeding up the identification and return of cultural objects lost during the Nazi era. The Government established the Spoliation Advisory Panel in 2000 to advise on claims for the return of items lost during the Nazi era (1933-1945). The Panel can consider claims for items that are privately owned at the joint request of the claimant and the current owner.