§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how much Live Productions are being paid for their role in the opening ceremony of the Dome; if the penalty clause in their contract has been activated; and if he will make a statement; [104523]
(2) if he will set out the remuneration package for Michael Lockett in respect of his role as Project Director for the opening ceremony of the Dome, including details of bonus payment arrangements. [104522]
§ Janet Anderson[holding answer 13 January 2000]: Early on in the considerations about the Dome Opening Celebration (DOC) NMEC decided that the event should be developed and managed in-house. The main factors influencing this decision concerned security, budget and the need to work closely with many of NMEC's existing creative and technical team whose duties also included delivery of the public opening of the Dome on 1 January. Mr. Michael Lockett (Chairman, Live Communication) was consultant project director. Fixed monthly fees were negotiated for Mr. Lockett and for those of his staff who supported him. NMEC established from the outset that the agreed fixed fees compare favourably with those applying in the major event organisation market. In developing and managing the delivery of the DOC, Mr. Lockett and his team worked as an integral part of NMEC's in-house team. Bonus payments are not applicable to any of the Live Communication personnel; final payment for the 706W DOC work they undertook is being made following the normal process of invoice approval by the client. The contract is subject to normal resolution procedures.