To ask the hon. Member for Mole Valley representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the value of all art held on the parliamentary estate.
Answered on
30 June 2015
The value of the Parliamentary Art Collection at the House of Commons, as recorded in the published annual accounts for the financial year 2013/14 was £6.7 million. The accounts for 2014/15, to be laid before the House prior to the Summer Recess, will contain an updated valuation.
For valuation purposes, the Parliamentary Art Collection at the House of Commons is divided into two categories; those items held as at 31 March 2000 and those items acquired since that date. No valuation for the Collection at 31 March 2000 is currently included on the Statement of Financial Position because obtaining a valuation for a collection of this size and diversity would be costly. During 2012/13, it was decided that the benefit from a valuation exercise would not justify the expense incurred. The House has no plans to conduct such a valuation.
Acquisitions since 1 April 2000 have either been made by purchase or donation. Purchases are recorded at cost and donations are recorded at the value current at the date of acquisition, ascertained by the House’s Curator of Works of Art with reference, where possible, to commercial markets using recent transaction information from auctions.