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Artist’s Resale Right Regulations

My Lords, I do not think that we have a total figure, but it obviously depends on what the spread of the figures is. Everyone can do their own calculation on this. There is a tariff and you can apply that to any figure within it. That will give you the result, minus the amount that DACS will take away, which will usually be equivalent to a quarter—but I will check that point and let the noble Lord know. It is not a difficult calculation and if he would like some help with that, we shall provide him with some examples of the figures and the amounts that DACS might withdraw. In closing this debate, I would like to reassure the noble Earl, Lord Howe, that the Government are committed to monitoring the impact of these measures, and we will revisit any issues which threaten our art market. If it is found that the measures do not work, we can go back to a figure of €3,000—it can be moved up as well as down. As it is unlikely that resale will be made compulsory under Berne, we will press for the derogation for deceased artists to be made permanent. Frankly, we should be focusing on that issue, the real threat to the British art market, if one is looking after the interests of that market, and not be concerned about £22,000 of extra costs. I thank noble Lords for an interesting debate and I commend the regulations to the House.