HC Deb 21 July 1997 vol 298 c392W
Mr. Clappison

To ask the Minister without Portfolio what research has been carried out into the number of visitors likely to attend the millennium experience. [6466]

Mr. Mandelson

Consultants to the Millennium Commission and the New Millennium Experience Company Ltd. have produced a broad range of estimates of visitor attendance. The limit on capacity is 17.7 million visits, a National Opinion Polls survey in December 1996 predicted 14 million visits by United Kingdom residents and the target in the current business plan is 12 million.

Mr. Maude

To ask the Minister without Portfolio how much money from private sector sponsorship has been raised for the millennium exhibition at Greenwich. [8028]

Mr. Mandelson

This information is currently commercially confidential. The New Millennium Experience Company Ltd. will publish a full account in due course.

Mr. Baker

To ask the Minister without Portfolio what contingency plans exist for the millennium experience budget in the event that ticket sales fail to reach £135 million. [6906]

Mr. Mandelson

[holding answer 7 July 1997]: As already announced, we are extending the life of the Millennium Commission to enable it to meet its existing commitments to the millennium experience. Should these commitments unavoidably increase in the future, we will take further steps to ensure—through the lottery—that the commission is able to meet them. But it is our firm resolve that such action should not prove necessary; the Millennium Commission shares this resolve.