In a move worth nearly £20m, paintings by Titian, Van Dyck and David Hockney, plus other cultural works, were saved for the nation last year as a result of the government's Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme.

Collections in Norwich, Nottingham, Northampton and Oxford, as well as national museums and galleries in London, have all had items allocated to them. The announcement, by culture minister Margaret Hodge, means that works valued at nearly £100m have passed into public collections over the last five years under the AIL scheme.

Hodge said: "Objects ranging from a Titian to a David Hockney, from family archives to architectural drawings with a value of £19.8m have been accepted under the scheme. This represents an increase in value of £4.6m from 2007/08 and a total value of objects of £98.5m in the last five years. Tax of £10.8m was written off by the acceptance of the cultural objects in 2008/09."

This year's allocation includes The Triumph of Love by Titian and works by Van Dyck, Millais and Reynolds. Archives also feature heavily in this year's report, as do works by contemporary artists, including Frank Auerbach, David Hockney and Howard Hodgkin.

The scheme has again helped to save items which are of significance within a more local context, such as a landscape by Gainsborough which is to be allocated to Norwich Castle Museum.

The AIL scheme enables taxpayers to transfer important works of art and other heritage objects into public ownership while paying Inheritance Tax, or one of its earlier forms. The taxpayer is given the full open market value of the item, which is then allocated to a public museum, archive or library.

Norwich's Castle Museum is set to benefit. Pic courtesy of Bluemoose