Attorney general upholds Wedgwood ruling
Collection can be sold to plug pension deficit
The attorney general announced this morning that he would uphold a high court judgement that the Wedgwood Museum’s collections could be sold to meet a £135m pension deficit inherited from the Wedgwood Pension Plan Trustee Limited, which went into administration in 2009.
A spokesman for the attorney general’s office said: "After careful consideration of the judgment in this case and after taking advice from specialist senior counsel, the attorney has decided not to appeal.
“The trial judge gave the issues before him careful consideration and the attorney does not believe his interpretation of the relevant law could be challenged. He has also taken account of the representations made by Alan Wedgwood."
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has been in talks with the Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, Art Fund, and Victoria and Albert Museum over ways to save the Wedgwood collection, estimated to be worth around £18m.
A DCMS spokesman said that although arts minister Ed Vaizey was determined to save the collection, the government was not in a position to pledge money to the museum. The next step, he said, was to have the collection valued and to continue to work towards a solution.
A spokesman for the attorney general’s office said: "After careful consideration of the judgment in this case and after taking advice from specialist senior counsel, the attorney has decided not to appeal.
“The trial judge gave the issues before him careful consideration and the attorney does not believe his interpretation of the relevant law could be challenged. He has also taken account of the representations made by Alan Wedgwood."
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has been in talks with the Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, Art Fund, and Victoria and Albert Museum over ways to save the Wedgwood collection, estimated to be worth around £18m.
A DCMS spokesman said that although arts minister Ed Vaizey was determined to save the collection, the government was not in a position to pledge money to the museum. The next step, he said, was to have the collection valued and to continue to work towards a solution.