Millennium Exhibition (Hansard, 20 January 1997)

§ Mrs. Viginia Bottomley

My Department issued a statement on 18 January setting out the basis on which the millennium exhibition project will go ahead. The text of the statement is reproduced as followsOn 6 December last year, the Millennium Exhibition operating company, Millennium Central, submitted its proposals for a National Exhibition to the Millennium Commission. The Commissioners decided at their meeting on 11 December that an Exhibition will take place in Greenwich in the year 2000. At its meeting on 13 January 1997, the Commission agreed that the indicative budget now available provides a basis on which a grant of £200 million can be made. Immediate negotiations on the terms and conditions of grant will begin in parallel with the preparation of a detailed business plan and the creation of the management team. This will be done in such a way as to drive costs down. In addition to the Commission's grant, the Exhibition will be funded through commercial income including private sector sponsorship. The Millennium Commission has a target of £150 million for sponsorship, of which more than half has been identified. Entrance charges will be set at a level which allows as many people as possible to attend but which also maximises revenue. The operational targets for visitor numbers and income for the Exhibition are, of course, estimates and will remain so, even when the detailed business plan is prepared. The Government will expect the business plan to be delivered within the indicative budget and will keep progress under continuous review to ensure that a first class exhibition is delivered at Greenwich in the most cost effective way. Nevertheless, the Government has taken the view that the Commission should have provision to cover variations from the estimates in the plan without prejudicing its existing grant programmes and the possibility of a fourth round of capital projects. The National Lottery etc. Act of 1993 allows for money from the National Lottery to be channelled to the Millennium Commission only until 31 December 2000, although that period may be extended by Order. An Order will accordingly be brought forward to extend the funding life of the commission for one year. Millennium Central understands that should the need for provision to cover variations arise, it will be required to make a new application to the Commission for this purpose. But any such application will only be made for contingencies and inflation which at present cannot be predicted and both the Government and Opposition agree that everything possible must be done to keep within the existing budget. 449W The Government is putting in place the normal public sector procedures necessary to monitor and review a project of this sort. No public expenditure will be committed to the Exhibition beyond that which will be made available to English Partnerships to acquire and prepare the site. The Government has decided that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Mr. Roger Freeman, should assume responsibility for Millennium Central. It would not be right for the Secretary of State for National Heritage to take this role in view of her position as Chairman of the Millennium Commission. To do so would also fetter her discretion as Secretary of State to act properly under the terms of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. Mr. Freeman will be advised by the Department of National Heritage. He will be the company's shareholder and will appoint its Board members and be answerable to Parliament for its performance. The Government is also pleased to announce that Robert Ayling, Chief Executive of British Airways, is to be Chairman of Millennium Central and that Jennifer Page, currently Chief Executive of the Millennium Commission, will be Chief Executive of the company. The Government has discussed the Millennium Commission's plans in detail with the Opposition, who are represented on the Commission. The Opposition remain enthusiastic about the proposed exhibition at Greenwich. They will want, if elected, to review all aspects of the project delivery, to ensure it is cost effective and properly implemented, so that it will come within the existing budget. The Government is pleased that the Shadow Heritage Secretary, Dr. Jack Cunningham, who has supported the plan for a National Exhibition from the start, has agreed the terms of this announcement. A National Exhibition should be a landmark in the lives of British people; it should be an event of which the whole country can be proud and which other nationals will admire, and be a worthy successor to the 1851 Great Exhibition and the 1951 Festival of Britain. The decontamination and regeneration of the 300-acre Greenwich Peninsula—the largest single derelict site in Southern England, just six miles for Westminster—will be one of the great legacies of the event. Five thousand people will work to build the Exhibition. The associated national programme will involve the whole country in the celebration of the Millennium. This will be an exhibition for the whole nation.