HL Deb 12 January 2000 vol 608 cc625-6

2.55 p.m.

Lord Lamont of Lerwick

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they are satisfied with the arrangements at the Millennium Dome on New Year's Eve and with its operation so far.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

My Lords, the delays experienced by some guests in getting to the Dome via Stratford Underground Station on 31st December were unacceptable. I have apologised and the New Millennium Experience Company's chief executive is writing to all who arrived via Stratford on new year's eve offering them a free visit to the Dome. Overall, however, the celebrations at the Dome were a huge success.

As I mentioned, polls conducted so far by the Sunday Times, the Mirror, ITN and the Independent all show that the vast majority of those visiting the Dome enjoy the experience very much.

Lord Lamont of Lerwick

My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister for that reply. However, bearing in mind that the Government have put up the most expensive temporary building in history, will he tell us something more about its operations? First, can the noble and learned Lord confirm that the daily weekday average number visiting is around 10,000, only reaching 20,000 to 25,000 at the weekend? Are those figures correct?

Secondly, can the Minister tell us why it was necessary to reserve part of the Jubilee Line for the Prime Ministerial party on new year's eve?

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

My Lords, the building is not temporary. It is a permanent building. We have always said that there is one other building like it whose roof has been up for 30 years and so far has not required maintenance. Even if the roof of the Millennium Dome were to require maintenance after 30 years that would be similar to most people's houses.

Secondly, as regards the operational level, we said on 22nd September 1999 that we would publish visitor figures at the end of each month rather than on a day to day basis which would lead to adverse criticism when the figure was low and favourable views when it was high. The operational level of numbers coming in is entirely satisfactory for January which must be one of the worst months for visitor attractions. Despite that, we are getting more visitors to the Millennium Dome this month than any other visitor attraction in the whole of the United Kingdom.

Thirdly, it is normal for a station such as Westminster to be closed on new year's eve for the purposes of security. If crowds had gathered around Westminster and the station was open, that could have led to difficulties. For security reasons, it was a sensible way to get the people who had been at a party in the Palace of Westminster—it included a large number of millennium award winners—from the Palace of Westminster to the Dome on that evening. The line as a whole was not closed.