Freedom of Information request - Artwork owned by council
Case reference FOI2026/00607
Received 11 June 2026
Published 9 July 2026
Request
Response
In accordance with section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), Oxford City Council (OCC) confirms that it holds information within the scope of your request. Our response is set out below.
1. The number of artworks owned by your local authority as of 1 April 2026 or the most recent available date.
OCC owns 136 artworks.
2. The number of artwork owned by your local authority that is on public display as of 1 April 2026 or the most recent available date 3. For each financial year, from 2020-21 to 2025-26, the number of artworks disposed of, split by whether it was sold, donated, destroyed or other? If possible, please list the artworks sold.
OCC has 113 artworks on public display.
3. For each financial year, from 2020-21 to 2025-26, the number of artworks disposed of, split by whether it was sold, donated, destroyed or other? If possible, please list the artworks sold.
OCC disposed of no artworks in each of the financial years from 2020-21 to 2025-26. No artworks were sold during this period.
4. For each financial year, from 2020-21 to 2025-26, list the income from artworks sold?
OCC received no income from the sale of artworks in each of the financial years from 2020-21 to 2025-26.
5. For each financial year, from 2020-21 to 2025-26, provide the number of artworks acquired (including purchases or donations, if recorded). If possible, please list the artworks acquired.
OCC acquired no artworks in each of the financial years from 2020-21 to 2025-26.
6. If held, the most recent estimated total value of the authority's artwork collection (if available provide the value for insurance purposes rather than assumed value).
We appreciate the interest in understanding the value of publicly owned assets. However, in this instance, we must also take account of the need to protect those assets from avoidable security risks.
OCC is withholding this information under section 31(1)(a) of the FOIA, which applies where disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
OCC considers that disclosure of valuation information relating to its artwork collection would be likely to increase the risk of theft or targeted criminal activity. This is because valuation information could assist individuals in identifying the relative value of assets owned by OCC.
Section 31 is a qualified exemption as is therefore subject to the public interest test. OCC recognise the public interest in transparency about public assets and the management of council-owned collections. However, there is a stronger public interest in protecting public assets from theft or damage and in ensuring that security arrangements are not undermined. On balance, OCC considers that the public interest favours maintaining the exemption.
This does not mean OCC is seeking to withhold information unnecessarily; rather, OCC must balance transparency with its responsibility to safeguard public assets.
7.If possible within the cost restraints of this request, please provide a list of artwork owned by the council.
If it would exceed the cost limit to provide full answers, please prioritise questions 1, 3 and 4. Public display includes those that can be readily viewed by members of the public. By artwork is defined as paintings, photographs, sculptures, etc.If any part of this request is likely to exceed the cost limit, I would be happy to refine the request.
OCC has considered this part of your request and can confirm that the information about the majority of OCC’s artworks, including the main artworks in the collection, is already publicly available on the Art UK website, available here.
To assist you, we have provided the link above. As this information is reasonably accessible to you by other means, it is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the FOIA.
Section 21 is an absolute exemption, which means OCC is not required to carry out a public interest test. This does not mean that access to the information is being refused; rather, the information is already available through an existing public source.
If you disagree with any part of the response to your request, you are entitled to ask the Council for an internal review of the decision(s) made. You may do this by writing to the Monitoring Officer, by either email monitoringofficer@oxford.gov.uk – or by post to Monitoring Officer, Oxford City Council, Town Hall, St Aldate’s, Oxford, OX1 1BX. After the result of the internal review, if you remain dissatisfied, you may ask the Information Commissioner to intervene on your behalf. You may do this by writing to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Officer
| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council | Town Hall | St Aldate’s | Oxford | OX1 1BX |
Documents
This is Oxford City Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.