TRANSFER OF NATIONAL GALLERY STAFF TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR

That this House condemns the decision by the National Gallery to transfer 400 of its 600 staff to the private sector; notes that these staff are responsible for the security of the paintings and the public and provide information about the collection to the Gallery's millions of visitors each year; is concerned that the National Gallery is the only major museum or gallery that does not pay the London Living wage; further notes that over 40,000 people have signed a petition that demands that the National Gallery remains a public service and the privatisation should be halted; calls on the Government to intervene in the case of Candy Udwin, who has been suspended for allegedly breaching commercial confidentiality for drafting a question for the Public Commercial Services Union to ask about the cost of a private company, CIS, which has been brought in temporarily to take over the services of a third of the staff while negotiating at ACAS; further calls on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to review the running of the Gallery; and further calls on the Government to ensure that funding is in place so valuable skills, knowledge, experience and dedication of the current staff of the National Gallery are not lost.