HC Deb 17 July 1981 vol 8 cc497-8W
Mr. Onslow

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will indicate the annual receipts from, and expenditure related to, each of the 24 catering concessions operated by his Department during each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Mr. Monro

Expenditure figures for the Department's catering concessions are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Concession payment figures mean little on their own but they are set out as follows for information. There are in fact 25 catering concessions operated by the Department.

As my hon. Friend knows from recent correspondence, the Department provides catering facilities at historic sites, museums and in the Royal parks as a service to the visiting public rather than specifically to raise revenue for the public purse. Care is, however, taken through competitive tendering to obtain the most satisfactory concession holders in terms of quality of service and financial return to the Department.

Concession payments from catering concessions operated by the

Department of the Environment at Historic sites, Museums and in

Royal Parks for period 1978–81

1978–79

£

1979–80

£

1980–81

£

Audley End 1,774 1,991 1,470
Carisbrooke Castle 4,971 5,231 5,413
Dover Castle 5,721 3,610 6,858
Fountains Abbey 440 703 578
Greenwich Park 6,828 7,773 3,723*
Ham House 5 5 5
Hampton Court 28,008 29,597 27,923
Hurst Castle No Service 713
Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens 80,090 13,305† 107,905
Imperial War Museum 3,716 3,697 2,220‡
Kew, Royal Botanical Gardens 21,746 20,733 8,000‡
National Gallery 9,843 11,069 6,333‡
National Railway Museum, York 6,576 5,990 2,448‡
Natural History Museum 17,721 21,088 10,674‡
Osborne House 12,549 12,072 11,976
Osterley Park Mansion 816 957 1,192
Pembroke Lodge, Richmond 17,471 20,178 19,525
Regent's Park 28,592 28,414 35,988
Richmond Park Golf Course 6,782 6,894 8,326
Science Museum 10,574 6,533 **
St. James' Park 52,833 72,013 65,837
Stonehenge 17,019 17,245 18,676
Tower of London 33,645 23,933 18,263‡
Victoria and Albert Museum 24,346 22,404 **
Wrest Park 20 20 Nil
* Closed part year for works.
** Figure not yet available.

† This is a net figure taking into account the reimbursement of the cost of maintenance works carried out by the caterer.

‡ Some receipts still outstanding.