When times are tough, it is often tempting to dispose of assets to boost the bank balance – and this goes for local authorities as well as individuals and families.

So it is perhaps understandable that Bradford Council might think it attractive to sell off some of what it owns in order to improve its finances, especially at a time when spending cuts are biting hard and yet more savings need to be found.

When it comes to selling off underused buildings or offices, then that might make sense. But now the Council is coming under pressure to dispose of its huge collection of fine art which it is now apparent might be vastly undervalued – the whole collection is insured for £20 million but an auction house recently found that just five per cent of the total art holdings is worth £30 million alone.

Conceivably, that could mean the Council is sitting on up to £600 million-worth of art. As tempting as it might be to sell this off, however, it would be a huge mistake to do so merely for short-term financial gain.

These works of art belong to all of us and we should be curating them for future generations, not seeing them as a cash cow to be milked until it runs dry purely to balance the books.

Instead of considering a mass sell-off of its art, perhaps Bradford Council should be looking at ways to get more of these fine works out of storage and on display. Taking a longer-term view could bring more people into Bradford to view these hidden treasures.

Some things, after all, should not have a price tag slapped upon them.