ABSTRACT
Local government museums run by district and islands councils are covered by the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1973, as amended by the Local Government and Planning (Scotland) Act, 1982; regional councils may run museums under the Education (Scotland) Act, 1980. This legislation does not specifically place restrictions upon the right of a local authority to dispose of items from its museum collections. The opinion of the Scottish Office’s solicitors, given to the Scottish Museum Federation a few years ago in response to a specific case, was that in the absence of specific legislation to the contrary, a council is free to treat its museum collections in the same way as the rest of its moveable property: it has the freedom to retain or dispose, as it sees fit.
