Art study paints an expensive picture

THE Government owns art worth £3.5billion — only three per cent of which on display.

And Oldham Council tells a similar story: the borough owns 2,760 pieces but only 104 items — 3.8 per cent — are on show.

Across the country, local authorities own around 5.5million works of art worth around £2.3 billion, and some have as little as 0.02 per cent on display

Much of the art has been bequeathed and would be inappropriate to sell, but purchases continue strongly: since 2010 the Government has bought £361,324 worth of art, including a £40,000 self-playing piano.

Manchester City Council owns the most valuable local government collection, over 46,000 items worth £374million.

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “No-one is proposing a wholesale sell-off, but nonetheless the scale of the collection is staggering.

“Public bodies and local authorities need to take a good hard look at their art portfolio and think about what does and does not need to be retained.”