Lord Parkinson, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for arts and heritage, responded that the matter is not being treated in isolation. The government has reached out to other national museums to seek assurances about their processes, and some have reported missing or unaccounted-for items. However, Lord Parkinson stressed that some of these numbers should not immediately cause alarm, as there are various reasons and explanations for missing items.
Maria Balshaw, chairwoman of the National Museums' Directors Council and director of the Tate art museums and galleries, clarified that there are 559 objects currently "lost and misplaced" from the Imperial War Museum. She emphasized that knowing which items are lost provides reassurance that the museum is actively managing its record-keeping.
The British Museum's interim director, Sir Mark Jones, also disclosed that one million artifacts at the British Museum are unregistered, and some 350 missing items are in the process of being returned.
An Imperial War Museum spokesman explained that many of the lost items date from many years or even decades ago, before their current collections management systems were in place. The missing items are typically low-value, mass-produced items, and in most cases, duplicates or digitized versions still exist.
The museum takes such losses seriously and informs the police when there is suspicion of theft, conducting thorough investigations for every lost item. They have clear systems in place to safeguard their vast collection, including regular audits, restricted access to storage areas, and detailed audit trails. They have not found evidence of internal malicious activity in these cases.