Repatriation of human remains

Gloucestershire County Council did not have the information requested.

Maciej Wójtowicz

Dear Sir or Madam

REPATRIATION OF HUMAN REMAINS

I am carrying out some research into the storage, retention and repatriation of non-European ethnological human remains held in UK regional museums or archives some of which are owned, managed or funded by UK local authorities.

To assist with this could you please let me have the following information under the Freedom of Information Act. All of these questions relate to human remains that are under 1,000 years of age. If your organisation is not covered by the Freedom of Information Act please consider supporting this research anyway and providing the information voluntarily. A link to the research will be provided to all contributers when it is published:

1. How many non-European human remains do you have in your collection or collections managed by organisations which you fund or control? If you do not have the exact number then please provide an approximation based on your normal method of counting.

2. How many human remains do you have in your collection which originated in:
a. Canada
b. New Zealand
c. Australia

3. How many requests for the repatriation of human remains have you had from communities, individuals or institutions outside of Europe since the Human Tissue Act 2004 came into force?

4. Of these requests, how many were:
a. Approved in full, with all of the requested remains being returned to the communities/individuals in question.
b. Approved in part with some of the requested remains being returned.
c. Not approved.
d. Still awaiting a decision.

5. For those requests which were not approved please provide a copy of the final decision letter setting out the reasons.

6. How many human remains have you repatriated to their country of origin proactively without receiving a request?

Thanking you in advance for your assistance with this important research project which should help to reconnect numerous Indigenous communities with their lost ancestors.

Yours faithfully

Maciej Wójtowicz

Gloucestershire CC, Gloucestershire County Council

Information request
Our reference: 10914305

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Dear ‎Sir/Madam‏
 
Request for Information (Reference: 10914305)
 
Thank you for your request for information, received on the 7th
of December 2018.
 
Request summary:
 
1. How many non-European human remains do you have in your collection or
collections managed by organisations which you fund or control? If you do
not have the exact number then please provide an approximation based on
your normal method of counting.

2. How many human remains do you have in your collection which originated
in:
a. Canada
b. New Zealand
c. Australia

3. How many requests for the repatriation of human remains have you had
from communities, individuals or institutions outside of Europe since the
Human Tissue Act 2004 came into force?

4. Of these requests, how many were:
a. Approved in full, with all of the requested remains being returned to
the communities/individuals in question.
b. Approved in part with some of the requested remains being returned.
c. Not approved.
d. Still awaiting a decision.

5. For those requests which were not approved please provide a copy of the
final decision letter setting out the reasons.

6. How many human remains have you repatriated to their country of origin
proactively without receiving a request?
 
We aim to respond to your request no later than midnight on 9 January
2019 (the statutory timescale of 20 working days, starting on the working
day following receipt of your request). We may need to contact you if the
request needs to be clarified; this is to ensure we provide you with the
information you require.
 
If the information you have requested is held by another public authority,
we will inform you of this so that you can contact them directly.
 
Gloucestershire County Council is committed to the principles of
information disclosure and will, wherever possible, provide all
information requested. However, some information you have requested may
not be provided to you; this will only be information that can be withheld
by law, and, in most cases, the reason will be explained to you when we
send out any information that can be released. We will also inform you as
soon as possible if we do not hold the information you have requested.
 
Our response to your request may be published in our disclosure log, with
your personal details removed. Our new disclosure log can be found on our
website at: [1]www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi.  In future, you may find
that the answer to your questions about the Council has already been
published.
 
Yours faithfully
Jenni Durrant
Information Requests Support Officer
Information Management Service

01452 324000

References

Visible links
1. http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/foi

Gloucestershire CC, Gloucestershire County Council

Information request
Our reference: 10914305

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Dear Maciej
 
I wanted to email to inform you that as Gloucestershire County Council is
not a unitary authority, some of the information you have requested could
be held by district councils so I am recommending that you send this
request to those authorities also. I have provided the contact details for
the district councils within Gloucestershire below.
 
Cheltenham Borough Council
Municipal Offices
Promenade
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
GL50 9SA
Telephone: 01242 264350
Email: [1][email address]

Cotswold District Council
Trinity Road
Cirencester
Gloucestershire
GL7 1PX
Telephone: 01285 623000
Email: [2][email address]

Forest of Dean District Council
Council Offices
High Street
Coleford
Gloucestershire
GL16 8HG
Telephone: 01594 812487
Email: [3][email address]

Gloucester City Council
Business Improvement and Performance Service
Gloucester City Council
North Warehouse
The Docks
Gloucester
GL1 2EP
Telephone: 01452 396712
Email:[4][email address]

Web: [5]www.gloucester.gov.uk/foi

Stroud District Council
Legal Assistant
Stroud District Council
Westward Road
Ebley
Stroud
Gloucestershire GL5 4UB
Email: [6][email address]

Tewkesbury Borough Council
Borough Solicitor
Tewkesbury Borough Council
Council Offices
Gloucester Road
Tewkesbury
GL20 5TT

Telephone: 01684 295010

Email: [7][email address

 
I hope this helps you.
 
 
Yours faithfully
Jenni Durrant
Information Requests Support Officer
Information Management Service

01452 324000

 
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.gloucester.gov.uk/foi
6. mailto:[email address]
7. mailto:[email address]

Gloucestershire CC, Gloucestershire County Council

1 Attachment

Information request
Our reference: 10914305

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Dear Sir/Madam
 
I am pleased to provide a response to your request for information,
received on 7 December 2018 :

1. How many non-European human remains do you have in your collection or
collections managed by organisations which you fund or control? If you do
not have the exact number then please provide an approximation based on
your normal method of counting.

2. How many human remains do you have in your collection which originated
in:
a. Canada
b. New Zealand
c. Australia

3. How many requests for the repatriation of human remains have you had
from communities, individuals or institutions outside of Europe since the
Human Tissue Act 2004 came into force?

4. Of these requests, how many were:
a. Approved in full, with all of the requested remains being returned to
the communities/individuals in question.
b. Approved in part with some of the requested remains being returned.
c. Not approved.
d. Still awaiting a decision.

5. For those requests which were not approved please provide a copy of the
final decision letter setting out the reasons.

6. How many human remains have you repatriated to their country of origin
proactively without receiving a request?

Please find this information attached.

Gloucestershire County Council has not withheld any information in
relation to this request under the exemptions of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FoIA).

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours faithfully
Stephen Taylor
Information Requests Officer
Information Management Service

01452 324000

NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.