§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what account was taken of the impact the hotel element of the Queens square development, Liverpool, on the position of the existing hotels; how many beds(a) will be provided and (b) jobs created; how much Government grant was provided; what capacity of rooms is expected; what will be the average room rate; and if he will list the projects which were turned down following the funding provided for the hotel development; [5171]
(2) what consultation, took place with existing hoteliers and Liverpool businesses before embarking on the Liverpool Queens square hotel development; what assessment he has made of (a) the extent of discussions with the local community and (b) the effect of subsidies to surrounding infrastructure development on the competitiveness of the new hotel. [5172]
§ Mr. GummerThe proposal for a new hotel, as part of the overall development of Queens square, is a key element of Liverpool city challenge's action plan, which has been subject to consultation with a wide range of interests.
An application for funding has been submitted by the developers to English Partnerships and EP is seeking European funding from the European regional development fund under the objective 1 programme. No decision has yet been taken by either. The package is being appraised in the normal way both by EP and the objective 1 secretariat to determine costs, benefits and value for money.