HC Deb 02 August 1976 vol 916 cc587-9W
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) when the name of the competition winner for building the museum to house the Burrell Collection was announced;

(2) what was the estimated cost of rehousing the Burrell Collection in each year from the date at which the competition winner for building the Burrell Collection was announced;

(3) what was the estimated cost of rehousing the Burrell Collection in each year from the date at which the site and plans for rehousing the Burrell Collection were accepted;

(4) what is the current estimated cost of rehousing the Burrell Collection this year; and how much that estimated cost is likely to increase each year during the next 10 years;

(5) how long he considers it will take to complete the building of the museum for the housing of the Burrell Collection;

(6) what is his estimate of the value of the Burrell Collection;

(7) whether all of the approximately 8,000 items of the Burrell Collection can be housed in the proposed building on the Pollok Estate;

(8) when he estimates that the bulk of the treasures of the Burrell Collection will be on view to the general public;

(9) when he expects to announce a decision on the financing of the housing of the Burrell Collection in Pollok Estate:

(10) when the plans for the building to house the Burrell Collection on Pollok Estate were approved;

(11) when the site for the housing of the Burrell Collection was approved.

Mr. Millan

Negotiations on the siting of the building to house the Burrel Collection were completed by Glasgow Corporation in November 1966. No information is available centrally as to the estimated cost of such a building for each year from the completion of these negotiations, but in June 1967 the cost was roughly estimated at between £1½ million and £2 million. The name of the winner of the architectural competition subsequently launched by Glasgow Corporation to find a design for a building was announced in March 1972. I understand that at least four years would be required from commencement of the main contract to the completion of this building, which would house all of the approximately 8,000 items in the collections valued at around £30 million. In July 1974 the cost of the building was estimated to be nearly £8 million, inclusive of fees. By February 1975 the plans had been accepted by the Scottish Education Department as generally satisfactory. From the latest information available, the present cost, inclusive of fees, is about £9.6 million. It is not possible to estimate by how much this cost might increase during the next 10 years.

I hope to be in a position to make a further announcement shortly.