The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has set up a project team to assess how to promote philanthropy across the cultural sector.
Headed by Keith Nichol, formerly head of museums at the DCMS, the team will consult with experts in the cultural and financial sectors, as well as working with the Treasury to look at proposals to change taxation policy.
The decision to investigate ways of encouraging philanthropy comes in the wake of the 2006-07 annual report by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest which indicated that of 20 objects that were export-stopped between 1 May 2006 and 30 April 2007, with a total value of £24.5m, only 12 were saved, worth £7m. So the more valuable objects got away.
Art Fund director David Barrie blamed "systematic problems" with the export control system alongside inflated market prices and the decline of Heritage Lottery Fund money. He singled out the inability of the system to enforce overseas purchasers to part with objects, the lack of income tax incentives, and a lack of transparency in the pricing of objects.
"The danger is that over time the rate of significant acquisitions is going to fall, and in the long run the public will be the losers," he said.
Tim Knox, director of the Sir John Soane's Museum and a member of the reviewing committee, said it was not the fault of the committee or the system, but a lack of money to pay for objects.
But he added: "We have lost the incentive for lifetime giving and the tradition of philanthropy, unlike in the US or continental Europe. I would like to see the acceptance-in-lieu system extended to lifetime giving.
"It is currently more tempting [for private owners] to consign a work of art to the auction house than try to find a way to donate it to a museum. And there is a frustration each quarter with seeing five things get through and one thing saved - usually the cheapest one."
Headed by Keith Nichol, formerly head of museums at the DCMS, the team will consult with experts in the cultural and financial sectors, as well as working with the Treasury to look at proposals to change taxation policy.
The decision to investigate ways of encouraging philanthropy comes in the wake of the 2006-07 annual report by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest which indicated that of 20 objects that were export-stopped between 1 May 2006 and 30 April 2007, with a total value of £24.5m, only 12 were saved, worth £7m. So the more valuable objects got away.
Art Fund director David Barrie blamed "systematic problems" with the export control system alongside inflated market prices and the decline of Heritage Lottery Fund money. He singled out the inability of the system to enforce overseas purchasers to part with objects, the lack of income tax incentives, and a lack of transparency in the pricing of objects.
"The danger is that over time the rate of significant acquisitions is going to fall, and in the long run the public will be the losers," he said.
Tim Knox, director of the Sir John Soane's Museum and a member of the reviewing committee, said it was not the fault of the committee or the system, but a lack of money to pay for objects.
But he added: "We have lost the incentive for lifetime giving and the tradition of philanthropy, unlike in the US or continental Europe. I would like to see the acceptance-in-lieu system extended to lifetime giving.
"It is currently more tempting [for private owners] to consign a work of art to the auction house than try to find a way to donate it to a museum. And there is a frustration each quarter with seeing five things get through and one thing saved - usually the cheapest one."
Some that got away
Portrait Of An Artist In His Studio by Michiel Van Musscher (£6.6m)
The Dark Rigi by JMW Turner (£2.7m)
Lake of Lucerne by JMW Turner (£2m)
Flatford Lock From The Mill House by John Constable (£2.85m)
The Crucifixion by Karel Van Mander (£461,085)
Portrait Of An Artist In His Studio by Michiel Van Musscher (£6.6m)
The Dark Rigi by JMW Turner (£2.7m)
Lake of Lucerne by JMW Turner (£2m)
Flatford Lock From The Mill House by John Constable (£2.85m)
The Crucifixion by Karel Van Mander (£461,085)
