Millennium Experience (Hansard, 9 March 1998)

§ Mr. Mitchell
To ask the Minister without Portfolio if exhibits relating to unemployment and homelessness will be included in the Millennium Experience. [31522]

§ Mr. Mandelson
The Millennium Experience will reflect the lives and aspirations of people from all backgrounds and walks of life, from right across the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Mitchell
To ask the Minister without Portfolio what will be the seating capacity of the smaller dome on the Millennium Experience site. [31523]

§ Mr. Mandelson
This facility would seat between 5,000 and 6,000 people.

§ Mr. Mitchell
To ask the Minister without Portfolio how long exhibitors will be contracted to keep their exhibits in the Millennium Experience; and if arrangements will be made for them to be exhibited in other parts of the country afterwards. [31649]

§ Mr. Mandelson
The Millennium Experience is due to run from 31 December 1999 to 31 December 2000. That is the basis on which the New Millennium Experience Company is planning the project and taking forward negotiations with sponsors of the content. A number of possibilities exist for subsequent use of the Dome and display of its content. Final decisions are not however likely before 2000, when the full potential of the Millennium Experience will be clearly apparent.
58W

§ Mr. Mitchell
To ask the Minister without Portfolio for what reasons the exhibition zones(a) Trans Action, (b) Shared Ground, (c) Atmosphere, (d) Time to Talk and (e) UK @ Now have not yet been displayed; and who is to sponsor them. [31876]

§ Mr. Mandelson
The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) revealed plans for the content of seven zones of the Millennium Dome on 24 February. NMEC are also working with designers and confirmed and potential sponsors on the remaining exhibition zones, and announcements will be made to the House in due course.

§ Mr. Mitchell
To ask the Minister without Portfolio if he will list the companies making contributions to the Millennium Experience, the sum committed by each and the fee payable on each to McKinsey & Co.; and what is(a) the total committed so far and (b) the sum still to be raised. [31847]

§ Mr. Mandelson
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) on 24 February 1998,Official Report, column 204. There is no fee payable to McKinsey & Co. Extensive discussions are continuing with a wide range of prospective contributors and NMEC are confident that the sponsorship target will be achieved.

§ Mr. Mitchell
To ask the Minister without Portfolio which faiths besides Christianity will be represented in the Spirit Level of the Millennium Experience. [31877]

§ Mr. Mandelson
The content of the Spirit Level zone is being developed in association with the Lambeth Consultation Group. The intention is that the zone will recognise the formative influence of Christianity in our history as well as the presence of other religious traditions in our society, and will encourage visitors to explore spiritual, emotional and moral issues. Within the zone there will be areas of calm where people of all faiths and backgrounds can spend time in reflection as they wish.

§ Mr. Mitchell
To ask the Minister without Portfolio, pursuant to the document, Time to Make a Difference, what was the basis of the statement that Grimsby and Ghana are located on the prime meridian. [31875]

§ Mr. Mandelson
The document was produced by the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) and the specific reference to Grimsby and Ghana is about a millennium project—Living on the Line—developed by Oxfam and supported by the NMEC. The project aims to link people and places along the Prime Meridian encouraging a deeper understanding between communities and bridging the differences between the developed and the developing world.
The Prime Meridian runs close to, rather than through, Grimsby; but despite this relatively minor geographical imprecision my hon. Friend will no doubt want to support Oxfam in promoting this important Living on the Line project.

§ Mr. Mitchell
To ask the Minister without Portfolio if he will make a statement on the product placement offered to contributors to the Millennium Experience. [32566]

§ Mr. Mandelson
Contributors to the Millennium Experience fall into different categories. The first four Founding Partner sponsors were announced in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract and Castleford 59W (Yvette Cooper), 24 February 1998, Official Report, column 204. Founding Partners have the opportunity to work with the NMEC's staff and design teams in developing the main exhibits in the Dome and, where appropriate, the Challenge programme of country-wide events and activities. These arrangements recognised the contribution of the Founding Partners to the success of the Experience and their commercial needs in terms of brand identity and promotion. The Experience is not, however, a trade show, nor an advertising hoarding for commercial products. The arrangements with the Founding Partners and other commercial contributors therefore ensure that the NMEC remains control over the integrity of the Experience as the focus of the UK's millennium celebrations.