When charity law meets restitution

Could a tweak to charity law reshape how museums handle restitution claims? Recent changes say yes, but only up to a point.

Sections 15 and 16 of the Charities Act 2022 finally came into force in England and Wales on 27 November 2025. These provisions make it easier for museums to make ex gratia "moral payments" to deserving claimants – with some notable exceptions.

Ex gratia payments are those made out of moral obligation rather than strictly for the charity's benefit. This matters for museums, because the scope of ex gratia payments extends to deaccessioning and restituting or repatriating cultural artefacts.

The key changes are:

• Trustees can delegate decisions about "small" ex-gratia payments to staff.
• No external approval is required to make such payments.
• "Larger" payments can be made with Charity Commission approval.

While the legislation simplifies the process of transferring charity assets, it's less of a gamechanger than initially expected, because national museums and galleries remain excluded. Still, this is a good moment to take stock and consider what the new rules mean in practice.

What museums should do now

Museums should update their collections management policy to reflect these changes. Now that trustees can delegate decision-making, they should consider who should be making deaccessioning decisions and ensure those staff are thoroughly trained and that curators take a joined-up approach.

Institutions might also consider publishing their deaccessioning policy for transparency. Guidance from Arts Council England, Collections Trust and Museums Association provides a useful starting point.

A practical tip: Keep clear records of decisions, which protect against reputational risk and ensure compliance.

The national museum exception

All national museums remain unable to make ex gratia payments, as the new legislation doesn't override their governing statutes. This clarification was made under the last Conservative government, ending speculation that these provisions would extend to national museums.

Existing grounds of deaccessioning therefore still apply. Broadly, holdings can be deaccessioned if they are duplicates, unsuitable for retention and can be disposed of without detriment to scholars, or are useless because of damage or deterioration.

There are also some exceptions for deaccessioning human remains that are less than 1,000 years old under the Human Tissue Act 2004 and objects spoliated between 1933 and 1945 under and the Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Act 2009.

What to expect from claims

The legislation is unlikely to unleash a torrent of restitution and repatriation claims.

Quite apart from whether any claimants notice the change, two factors limit its impact: national museums are excluded and thresholds for ex gratia payments are modest.

For example, £1,000 for charities with up to £25,000 gross annual income, and £20,000 for those over £1 million. By contrast, the so-called Benin Bronzes, thousands of which remain in museum collections, can sell for millions.

Other objects with historical, cultural, spiritual or political significance to certain communities have modest market value though and this small shift in charity law could be utilised to make an impact.  

This does raise an interesting point for museums. What is the right way to value contested objects for the purposes of ex gratia payments? Should they be valued at what they would fetch if sold now, with an unresolved claim, or following a restitution settlement? What even is the market value for looted items in today's climate?

Museums should establish a clear valuation methodology and document their reasoning, whether based on current market value or adjusted for provenance issues.

The road ahead for restitution

Despite its limited scope, the legislation will undoubtedly make it easier for non-national museums to deaccession holdings on moral grounds and there may be room to adjust the value thresholds once the framework is established.

It doesn't compel returns, although sector trends in North America and much of Europe lean towards returns where a moral case exists. It may only be a matter of time before the UK Government relaxes restrictions for national museums.

This is more likely because the UK public, despite the much-talked-about cultural "vibe shift", seems to be increasingly in favour of restitution, as shown by support for returning the Parthenon Marbles – surely the ultimate UK litmus test.