§ 2.45 p.m.
§ Lord Lukeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What criteria they will use to assess bids for the Millennium Dome and ancillary areas to be sold after the end of the Millennium Experience on 31st December 2000.
§ The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)My Lords, the winning scheme should be commercially and financially successful and not impose on the public purse; demonstrate high standards of environmental sustainability; provide regeneration through economic, social and physical benefits; be imaginative and distinctive; enhance the cultural significance of the Dome; and maximise use of public transport. We intend to announce a shortlist of potential winners in the next few weeks.
§ Lord LukeMy Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. Can he assure me that the Government will not just sell to the highest bidder? Does he agree that the most appropriate use of the Greenwich peninsula as a whole is as a world-class, world-size business convention and conference centre with all that that means to the business tourist industry in Britain? Can the Minister say approximately how much money the Government expect to receive for the whole site?
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonMy Lords, as the Government have always made clear, money will not be the only consideration. We want a first-class use for the site which reflects all the criteria I indicated in my Answer. We are in the process of reducing a shortlist of 10 to a smaller number. It would be wrong for me to indicate the kind of figure that the Government have in mind because that would have an effect on the negotiations.
§ Lord Davies of OldhamMy Lords, does my noble and learned friend recognise that the inheritors of the site will have a building of striking distinctiveness and quality? Is it not time that we recognise the quality of many of our modern architects and the significance of the Dome? Does my noble and learned friend agree that, despite the rather unfortunate experiences of some of the London intelligentsia on the eve of the millennium—I refer to newspaper editors and the media—their judgment that the Dome will not prove to be a success is contradicted by those of us who visit the site with the ordinary folk of this country? On Monday I accompanied some people from Oldham on a special visit to the Dome. Their judgment is vastly different from the rather critical comments that come from some sections of the London elite.
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonMy Lords, I have been there on a number of occasions since 1st January 2000. My experience is that the vast majority of people who go there have a truly fabulous day out. But noble Lords need not take just my word for it. Let us consider the polls conducted by a number of media publications and organisations; for example, the Sunday Times, the Daily Mirror, ITN and the Independent. Some of those organisations have not been altogether favourable to the Dome since 1st January. However, the polls carried out by all of those organisations show satisfaction percentages in the high 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, indicating a high level of satisfaction on the part of those who have been there.
§ Lord ChalfontMy Lords, can the noble and learned Lord assure the House that in assessing these bids no distinction will be made between VIPs and ordinary people?
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonMy Lords, all bids will be treated equally.
§ Lord InglewoodMy Lords, can the Minister confirm that all those on the shortlist of potential winners will fully meet the Government's ambitious, wide-ranging and all-embracing criteria?
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonMy Lords, at the moment we have a shortlist of 10. We have made clear the criteria to be met in order to move on to the shorter shortlist. All of those who move on to the shorter shortlist must satisfy the Government's criteria.
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, does the Minister agree that the fact that money will not be the only criterion means that the site may eventually be sold at a loss? If I am right in believing that the sole shareholder of the New Millennium Experience Company is the Government, how will that loss be met?
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonMy Lords, I am proud to say that I am the sole shareholder in the company. As I made clear in answer to an earlier intervention, money is not the only consideration. We have also made it clear that n o taxpayers' money of any kind will be used in relation to this. Obviously, that is an important factor in considering the bid.
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, can the noble and learned Lord personally afford the result of that undertaking?
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonMy Lords, I am perfectly content to say "yes" to that.
§ Lord HaskelMy Lords, does my noble and learned friend agree that the Dome is not a development to be bought and sold as a piece of property but an exhibition, and that in most commercial organisations the cost of an exhibition is written off against the cost of attracting people and doing all the other things that an exhibition is meant to do? Does my noble and learned friend agree that that is the way it should be considered?
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonMy Lords, I agree in substance with what my noble friend says. As regards the successful bidder, consideration will be given not only to the property transaction but also to many other factors.
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, as Wembley cannot accommodate track events, why could not the Dome be turned into a super-sports stadium at which track events, boxing, tennis, and any sport one likes to mention, could take place?
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonMy Lords, one of the 10 bidders on the shortlist proposes something called the "sports dome" which includes a wide range of sports. I fear that it could not be a large enough open-air stadium for an Olympic bid. However, if there were an Olympic stadium somewhere else, it could complement it for other sports.
§ Baroness HoggMy Lords, does the Minister accept that a considerable sum of public money has been spent on the Dome? It is included under the Government's own totals of public expenditure in the Pre-Budget Report.
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonMy Lords, £399 million worth of the Millennium Commission's money—that is, money which comes from the lottery—has been spent on it. No person in this country is compelled to buy a lottery ticket.