Written question asked by Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville (Conservative) on Thursday, 3 May 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 11 May 2001. It was answered by Lord Howarth of Newport (Labour) on Friday, 11 May 2001 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Dept for Culture Media and Sport

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the standard time is for turning round export licence applications made to his Department.

Answer: Mr. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the standard time is for turning round export licence applications made to his Department. [160791] Mr. Alan Howarth: My Department's export licensing unit has a code of practice under which the unit aims to issue export licences within five working days of receiving the application. Unfortunately, they cannot do so if any information is missing from the application or if it needs to be referred to an expert adviser in a museum or gallery. Expert Advisers will normally be consulted within five working days and they are asked to respond to the unit within 15 working days. If there is a particular urgency with an application, the unit will try to issue a licence by the deadline requested.

Secondary information