Millennium Exhibition

HL Deb 26 June 1997 vol 580 cc182-3WA

Lord Sefton of Garston

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether it is the case that the public funding of the Millennium Exhibition at Greenwich is conditional upon 50 per cent. of the cost being met by private sponsorship; and, if the necessary private sponsorship is not raised, whether they will seek to move the exhibition to Birmingham, where the required private sponsorship may be forthcoming.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

Funding of the Exhibition at Greenwich from National Lottery proceeds is not conditional upon 50 per cent. of the cost being met by private sponsorship, although we are confident that the private sector will contribute substantially to the costs of the exhibition.

The recently completed review did not consider moving the Millennium Exhibition to Birmingham or any other site. In announcing his support for the exhibition on 19 June, the Prime Minister said that the exhibition must be a truly national event, with links across the whole of the UK.