British Museum told to strip directors of powers after theft scandal

The British Museum has curbed the power of its directors to “put its house in order” following the theft of 1,500 artefacts.

Former director Dr Hartwig Fischer quit his position and his deputy Dr Jonathan Williams “stepped back” from his duties over reports of their failure to uncover the thefts.

The British Museum’s director and deputy must now share power in future, in line with recommendations signed off by the board of the national institution.

The museum has already announced a five-year plan to audit all “blind spots” in its collection, and to prevent staff entering secure rooms unsupervised.

The reforms were part of a raft of recommendations from an independent report commissioned as part of a review designed to avoid any future scandals over the security of the collection.

George Osborne, chairman of the museum’s board, said: “This Review shows the British Museum is putting our own house in order, indeed we commissioned it because we were determined to learn the lessons of what went wrong.

“The British Museum was the victim of thefts over a long period, and we apologise again that this was allowed to happen.

“We’re determined to emerge from this period a stronger, more open, and more confident Museum that is fit for the future.”

Mr Osborne said that full details of a report presented to the museum board could not be released due to an ongoing police investigation into the thefts.

One recommendation states that the “director”, formed of the director and deputy director position until recently held by Dr Fischer and Dr Williams, should be expanded to include a further five senior staff to ensure “sufficient challenge and diversity of thought”.

It is understood that these changes have already taken effect, and will mean expanding the roles to include more senior staff, decentralise power and create more “open” decision-making.

This recommendation comes after Dr Fisher resigned and Dr Williams stepped back following revelations they had been warned about thefts by antiques expert Dr Ittai Grade in 2021, long before the thefts were reported in 2022, but did not act.