BAMF defuse threat from London Bill

The London Local Authorities Bill had included proposals to substantially boost police powers of entry, search and seizure. There were also new requirements for dealers in secondhand goods to register with their local councils and plans to tie up business further with complex record-keeping.

The Bill follows earlier legislation, including the Kent Act, aimed at preventing the illegal trade in secondhand goods. Although not specifically targeted at the art and antiques trade, it draws dealers and auctioneers into its ambit.

BAMF supported targeted legislation to deal with the problem of crime, but felt the measures proposed by the Bill were not targeted properly and risked causing serious damage to legitimate business interests. As a result, BAMF chairman Anthony Browne and president Lord Brooke launched a solitary but rigorous campaign against the proposals. Among their concerns – later shared by the Home Office and three other departments – were the hugely enhanced police powers being proposed. Officers would have been able to gain entry to property and to search for and seize goods without a warrant.

Now, however, it has been agreed that the entire section of the Bill affecting these powers, Part Four, will be dropped.

“I am glad that the promoters of the LLA Bill have finally acknowledged the strong case made by BAMF against the measures proposed in Part 4,” said Mr Browne. “The complicated requirement for all dealers and auction houses in London to register with their local councils, to keep duplicate records and to be subject to unprecedented and, in our view, unjustified police powers of entry, search and seizure of property would have enveloped the second largest art market in the world in an unnecessary added layer of bureaucracy.”

Ivan Macquisten