Acceptance in Lieu

Sometimes items are Accepted in Lieu without a condition as to allocation, or offered under the Cultural Gifts Scheme without a wish as to allocation. Such items are advertised here and organisations are invited to apply for them to be allocated to their institution.

Over the last financial year we reported 48 cases detailing a wide range of items acquired for the nation worth just over £52 million. Read this report to find out more about them.

How to apply for an item

The application should address the following areas:

1. How the item you are applying for is appropriate to your permanent collection and an explanation of its context within it.

2. How public access will be provided.

We expect that the item will be on open public display for the majority of the time and a minimum of 100 days a year, subject to any conservation restraints. You should also provide details on what access arrangements will be put in place when the item is not on display (if appropriate) and how members of the public would be made aware of these.

3. Your ability to maintain the item and care properly for it.

4. Your educational programme and how the item will be integrated into that programme.

The Acceptance in Lieu Panel also advises HMRC on cultural objects, which are preserved and made available to the public in return for conditional exemption from Inheritance Tax or Capital Gains Tax.

Every year we publish a report on the Cultural Gifts and Acceptance in Lieu schemes, which details the cases accepted for the nation in that financial year.

Click the links below to download the reports.

You can find a list of the current Acceptance in Lieu Panel members below.

Michael Clarke, CBE  

Chair of the AiL Panel. Honorary Professor, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh. Formerly Director of the Scottish National Gallery. Author of books and exhibition catalogues on paintings and drawings.

Thomas Dane

Thomas Dane, Gallerist and Director of Thomas Dane Gallery.

Dr Simon Groom

Director of Modern & Contemporary Art, National Galleries of Scotland. Formerly he worked at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge and Tate Liverpool.

Yamini Mehta

Formerly of Sotheby’s, London where she served as: Deputy Chairman and International Head of Department, Indian and South Asian Art. Prior to this, worked as Director and Head of Sale, Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art at Christie’s, London and as a Specialist, Indian Himalayan and Southeast Asian Antiquities at Christie’s, New York. Former member of Tate’s South Asian Acquisitions Committee.

Dr Tessa Murdoch

Dr Tessa Murdoch FSA worked at the Museum of London 1981-1990 and at the V&A 1990-2021. Her most recent book Europe Divided: Huguenot Refugee Art and Culture was published by the V&A, November, 2021. Tessa advises the National Trust and the National Heritage Memorial Fund, is a Board Member of the Idlewild Trust, and Chair of Trustees of the Huguenot Museum, Rochester.

Martin Postle

Senior Research Fellow at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. Has published extensively on aspects of eighteenth-century British art, including publications relating to Joshua Reynolds, George Stubbs, Richard Wilson, Johan Zoffany, the artists’ model, and collection and display in the British Country House. Has recently embarked upon a catalogue raisonné of the oil paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby.

Meredyth Proby

Curates Elton Hall Collection. Syndic of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Chairman of the Fitzwilliam Museum Development Trust & Marlay Group. Formerly, a non-executive Director of Christie’s.

Deborah Shaw

Deborah is Chief Executive of the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. She was previously Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Director of the World Shakespeare Festival 2012, and Head of Creative Programming & Interpretation, then Creative Director at Historic Royal Palaces.

Dr Francesca Vanke FSA

Senior Curator and Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. Her academic specialities include ceramics, the history of collecting, and seventeenth century material culture.

Lara Wardle

Executive Director Jerwood Foundation and Curator Jerwood Collection. Specialist in 20th century British art, formerly at Christie’s and Phillips auction houses.

Jeremy Warren  

Specialist in sculpture and works of art, formerly Collections and Academic Director at the Wallace Collection.  Honorary Curator of Sculpture, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and Sculpture Research Curator for the National Trust.

Joan Winterkorn 

Archives and manuscripts consultant.  Formerly a Director of Bernard Quaritch Ltd.

Dr Jonny Yarker

Director of Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd. Scholar of British art and the Grand Tour.

The Arts Council and Art Fund have published a new guide, “Everybody is a winner”: A guide to giving (and selling) art and cultural artefacts to UK museums and galleries, setting out different schemes available to owners who might be interested in making tax savings or looking for support with finding the right home for an object or collection. 

Some of the benefits of giving or selling art and artefacts to museums and galleries include: 

• Significant financial savings: In the case of the Acceptance in Lieu scheme and Private Treaty Sales, offerors/sellers benefit more than they would if they sold the work on the open market. 

• Free specialist support: By gifting or bequeathing through Art Fund, owners receive a free service that includes advice on the right home for their objects, correspondence and negotiation with museums, and legally binding documentation. 
• Peace of mind: Donors benefit from the security that donating through Art Fund gives, ensuring that the objects are properly cared for, accessible to the public and never sold. 

Alongside topline information about each scheme, the guide includes case studies showing real life examples of the impact that acquisitions through these schemes have had on museums and their audiences. 

If you’re thinking of giving or selling an artwork or artefact to a museum or gallery and would like further advice on which scheme is right for you, please get in touch:

For advice on a potential gift or bequest, email programmes@artfund.org

For enquiries relating ot the Acceptance in Lieu and Cultural Gifts scheme, email AIL.Panel@artscouncil.org.uk

“Everybody is a winner” webinar

Watch our webinar to learn how to make the most of Art Fund and Arts Council England schemes that support museums, galleries, archives and libraries across the UK to acquire cultural artefacts for free, or for much less than their market value.