Examination of Witnesses (Questions 676
- 679)
THURSDAY 8 JUNE 2000
MR ALAN
HOWARTH CBE, MS
ISABEL LETWIN
AND MR
HUGH CORNER
Chairman: Mr Howarth, we welcome you
here today with your officials and Mr Faber will ask the first
question.
Mr Faber
676. Morning, Minister. It is a double whammy
for me this morning. I have had the pleasure of serving on the
Finance Bill where I have been listening to our very eloquent
front bench spokesman all morning and now I have come to listen
to your team instead.
(Mr Howarth) Nothing if not a conscientious parliamentarian,
Mr Faber.
677. Exactly. A couple of days before we went
on recess last week you answered a Parliamentary Question announcing
the setting up of a Panel looking into the matters which this
Committee is looking into, a very eminent group of people. Why
did you decide to set up that Panel?
(Mr Howarth) Because I believe we need to look very
searchingly to see how we can build on the existing arrangements
we have. We have some very useful building blocks in place, policies
of one kind and another and practices by the trade, to set barriers
against the illicit trade whether in stolen goods or illegally
exported goods, but I am very far from satisfied that we have
everything in place that we need and I think that must be common
ground here today. What I felt it right to do, particularly following
the disappointment when we found ourselves unable to agree to
subscribe to the UNESCO and UNIDROIT Conventions, was to set up
a very expert Panel chaired by Professor Norman Palmer, who I
think by widespread agreement is an eminent legal authority in
this field, with representatives from the trade, the archaeological
community and the museums community to get down to some hard practical
work together to examine the nature and extent of the problem.
There is a lot of assertion and some very widely discrepant statistics
are being bandied about, and we need to get a much better handle
and surer grasp on the problem we have to deal with and then to
see what means, legislative and non-legislative, we could bring
to bear to improve our capacity to address the problem. The Panel
will be underpinned by an inter-departmental, across Whitehall
group of officials. I have instigated the bringing together of
all the departments that ought to have a contribution to make
and I hope that this whole process will lead to practical recommendations
to government by November.
678. You have used the expression the Panel
will undertake "hard, practical" work on the subject.
We rather feel as a Committee that is what we have been doing
on the subject and it is probably not a coincidence that I think
virtually every member of your Panel has given evidence to this
Committee in the course of our inquiry. Whose views would you
consider to be more important, ours or the Panel's?
(Mr Howarth) I would have enormous respect for the
views of this Select Committee and may I say how valuable it is,
in my judgement, that the Select Committee has chosen to address
this issue. Some enormously important spade work has been done,
some very interesting and helpful evidence has been submitted
to you and in your own questioning and enquiries you have helped
very importantly to focus the issues upon which I think government
needs itself to be focused. So many, many thanks, if I may put
it this way, for the work that you have been doing and the advice
that you give to Parliament and to the Government which in due
course is going to be an extremely important contribution to our
efforts to determine an appropriate policy. I hope very much that
there will not be large amounts of daylight between what you recommend
and what we would wish to do. Given, as you say Mr Faber, many
of the same witnesses will have appeared before you as we will
be consulting, I would hope that we can move towards a useful
consensus.
679. On a practical point, obviously this Committee
comes out with recommendations in the Report which, although not
wishing to split hairs, we consider rather more than spade work
and we will do that obviously quite soon, and then the Panel is
due to report in November. Does that mean we should not expect
a reply to our Report before the Panel has undertaken its work?
(Mr Howarth) I would always wish to proceed courteously
in relation to the Committee and would certainly envisage offering
you a reply well before November. It might, however, have elements
of provisionality about it, as I hope you would accept was not
inappropriate, given that I shall also be awaiting the recommendations
of the official Working Group and Panel that I have convened.
|
