Wembley Stadium (Hansard, 8 May 2000)

§ 10. Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold)
If he will make a statement on the future of Wembley stadium. [119883]

§ The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr. Chris Smith)
The new Wembley stadium will be one of the finest football and rugby stadiums in the world. I look forward to its being the centrepiece of England's staging of the 2006 world cup.

§ Mr. Clifton-Brown
Does the Secretary of State agree that the whole Wembley redevelopment scheme has been subject to dither and delay? That is shown not least by a report in The Daily Telegraph last Saturday that his officials were desperately negotiating with Brent council on who was to pay the £13 million redistribution and transport link costs. Will he now step in personally and take charge of the whole project to clear up the mess, so that our bid to host the world cup in 2006 is not prejudiced?

§ Mr. Smith
I refer the hon. Gentleman to a statement issued last Friday by the leader of Brent council, Paul Daisley, who said: Following detailed discussions with all the key parties involved with the development of the new stadium at Wembley, I am increasingly confident that my officers will soon be in a position to prepare a report for our planning committee which recommends approval for the stadium planning application.

§ Mr. Barry Gardiner (Brent, North)
Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating Councillor Daisley 493 and the officers of Brent council? They have trodden an extremely careful path in ensuring not only that the stadium development will go ahead as we all wish, but that the relevant section 106 moneys for the regeneration of the local area, and for the provision of a safe transport infrastructure for fans, will be provided. As my right hon. Friend has just said, that seems set to happen: planning permission will be given on the 15th. Will he join me in congratulating all who have worked so hard for so long to ensure that it does happen?

§ Mr. Smith
I do indeed join my hon. Friend in congratulating, in particular, Councillor Daisley and the team at Brent.
In all such cases there is, of course, a difficult negotiation to be undertaken between developers and local authorities rightly seeking planning gain. In this instance, the details have been very important, but what Brent has sought to achieve—rightly and understandably, in my view—is not only the development of a new stadium, but proper regeneration of the surrounding area and a good transport infrastructure so that people can travel to and from the stadium.

§ Mr. Bob Russell (Colchester)
Does the Secretary of State agree that Wembley stadium is arguably the most famous soccer stadium in the world, and certainly the venue for this country's greatest sporting achievement? Can he assure us that once the vandalism has taken place and the new stadium has been erected, football supporters will not be sitting in their coaches two hours after the final whistle, as happened after the Worthington cup final?
What about the infrastructure? There is no guarantee that the new Wembley will be any better than the old Wembley when it comes to getting there and back.

§ Mr. Smith
The whole point of the discussions that have been under way during the past few months between Brent and Wembley stadium is to ensure that such an eventuality is avoided. I have every confidence that the new Wembley will be even better than the old.

§ Mr. David Hinchliffe (Wakefield)
A few moments ago, the Minister for Sport referred to the success of the rugby league cup final held at Murrayfield a couple of weeks ago. That final is, of course, normally held at Wembley. Will my right hon. Friend urge the Wembley authorities to reflect on the success of that match, away from Wembley? In recent years, many rugby league supporters have felt exploited by Wembley, by the south of England and by London. By contrast, they were made very welcome in Edinburgh and elsewhere in Scotland. The efforts that were made to ensure that a match could be played, although the pitch was 3 ft under water only two days before the final, were remarkable—but most remarkable of all was the fact that the match was played on a rugby union ground. A couple of years ago, that would have been unheard of.

§ Mr. Smith
The decision on the location of the rugby league cup final is entirely for the rugby league authorities. I hope that they will not ignore the prospect 494 of coming, at least from time to time, to the new Wembley stadium once it is constructed, because I enjoyed a rugby league cup final at Wembley very much.

§ Mr. Peter Ainsworth (East Surrey)
I hope that the general rejoicing is not premature. On 2 May, in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway), the Minister for Sport admitted that Ministers had been aware of Brent council's concerns over infrastructure for more than two years. She also admitted that, astonishingly, no one from her Department had bothered to discuss those problems with either Transport or Environment Ministers. She said that they were a matter for the Wembley task force, so what has the task force been doing? I quote her again: No recommendations, views or proposals have been submitted by the Task Force to the Department.—[Official Report, 2 May 2000; Vol. 349, c. 17-18W.] I know that Wembley has become a byword for ministerial incompetence, but is it not breathtaking that for more than two years, the Government did nothing to address the problems that have, to this day, threatened the very survival of that national project? Is that their idea of supporting Great Britain plc?

§ Mr. Smith
I am surprised at the hon. Gentleman, who was, I understand, a parliamentary private secretary in the previous Government. He does not understand the basic principle that Ministers in a Department cannot and should not intervene in planning decisions that may fall to the Deputy Prime Minister, as Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, to determine in his semi-judicial capacity. That is the reason for the answer that my hon. Friend the Minister for Sport gave.