HC Deb 19 October 1999 vol 336 c427W
Mr. Key

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in each year since the establishment of English Heritage, how much(a) his Department and its predecessors, (b) English Heritage, (c) other departments and (d) other agencies have spent on (i) public consultations, (ii) conferences, (iii) public exhibitions, (iv) public relations, design and other consultancy fees and (v) legal fees in connection with (1) the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, (2) proposals for a new visitors centre and (3) proposals for roads in the vicinity. [94153]

Mr. Alan Howarth

Prior to 1990–91, English Heritage incurred no expenditure in respect of Stonehenge beyond that arising from its normal day-to-day responsibilities. Between 1990–91 and 1997–98, English Heritage spent some £3.7 million in relation to proposals for a new visitor centre and for improving the setting of the monument. However, the total expenditure cannot at this stage be readily apportioned to specific aspects of the project. From 1 April 1998 to date, English Heritage expenditure has been as follows:

£
Stonehenge World Heritage Site Management Plan
Public consultation 47,678
Public relations, design and other consultancy fees 58,803
Proposed new visitor centre
Public exhibitions 24,304
Public relations, design and other consultancy fees 48,966
Legal fees 96,237

Prior to 1 April 1996, the only expenditure by the Highways Agency that can be attributed solely to the Stonehenge element of the A303/Amesbury—Berwick Down scheme relates to a public consultation exhibition in 1993 costing £32,000 and a conference and exhibition in 1994 costing £78,000. Since then, they have spent £794,945 on the design of the Stonehenge part of the scheme. In addition to this, they mounted a public exhibition earlier this year (1999) at a cost of £48,000.

My Department, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and their predecessor Departments have not incurred any directly attributable costs in connection with Stonehenge. It is not possible meaningfully to apportion the cost of official time spent in respect of consultations and correspondence.