§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if, in the light of the National Enterprise Board study of Merseyside which the Prime Minister commissioned into ways of regenerating employment, he will now call a meeting of the Merseyside City Council and the relevant Government Departments to ascertain what help could be given to Merseyside to stage the 1988 Olympics;
(2) if, in the light of the high level of unemployment on Merseyside, he will undertake to pay the costs of a feasibility study into the possibility of Merseyside being the host to the 1988 Olympics;
(3) what grant and assistance would be available from his Department if Merseyside County Council was to be the host for the 1988 Olympics.
§ Mr. Denis HowellThis is not the only suggestion I have heard of recently that a British city should host the 1988 Olympics, although none of the proposals has so far been put to me formally. Hosting the games requires a massive investment in facilities to cater for the 28 Olympic sports, and the scale of expenditure required is probably beyond the284W resources of even our largest cities. There can be little prospect of the Government underwriting such expenditure lightly. My own view and that of many members of the IOC is that future Olympics will be spread over a country or region with a series of separate Olympic villages, for separate groups of sports, to enable the maximum use to be made of facilities which already exist. I have asked the Sports Council to look at the practicability of such arrangements.