Political involvement in the fate of the Wedgwood Museum collection has stepped up this week, with an early day motion in support of the Museum becoming the most popular tabling in just four days, and the Attorney General due to decide if the Museum can appeal a High Court ruling that its collection can be sold to fund a £134m pensions deficit.
The Wedgwood Museum found itself liable for a £134m pension shortfall because of its participation in a multi-employer pension scheme covering a number of employers in the Waterford Wedgwood Group. The administrators had sought advice on whether the Museum’s pottery collection was held in Trust, both the Charity Commission and the High Court ruled it was not, and therefore should be sold off to fund the pension shortfall.
A spokesman for the Attorney General said he would decide whether to take further action once the full written statement from the High Court was released.
Tristan Hunt MP tabled an early day motion on the future of the Wedgwood Musuem last Saturday. It has become the most popular motion in just four days, with 56 signatures.
The motion says the legislation governing the Pension Protection Fund is in need of urgent amendment if it leads to the unintended consequence of placing a national museum collection in jeopardy.
Charities not exempt from “last man standing”
The issue has also been debated in the House of Lords this week. Lord Flight put a question to the Upper House on exempting charities from the “last man standing rule” in multi-employer pension schemes, which caught out the Wedgwood Museum.
Tory peer Baroness Rawlins said the government had reviewed the case and felt that it would be inappropriate not to apply this rule to charities: “Charities should have the freedom to choose pension needs that suits their needs,” she said.
Lord Howarth of Newport, a Labour peer, expressed caution about reaching conclusions on the matter until the full written judgment from the High Court on Wedgwood was released:
“We will then know whether the predicament of the Wedgwood Museum has arisen because pensions’ legislation was poorly drafted or scrutinised or, perhaps, because the trustees of the museum were poorly advised when they could have placed the collection securely in trust and beyond the reach of the Pension Protection Fund.”
Both Lord Flight and Baroness Jones of Whitchurch asked whether a Department of Work and Pensions consultation that recognised problems with the “last man standing” rule would happen as promised.
Baroness Rawlings did not confirm or deny the consultation, but did say the government were awaiting judgment from the Attorney General and would decide where to go from there.
Earlier this month, organisations met culture minister Ed Vaizey in a bid to save the Wedgwood Musueum Collection.
The Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, Art Fund, and the Victoria and Albert Museum met wit the Minister and MP Hunt to discuss how to keep the collection as intact and accessible to the public as possible.
