HL Deb 18 December 2001 vol 630 cc37-8WA
Baroness Goudie

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress has been made in relation to the future use of the Millennium Dome. [HL2098]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

Meridian Delta Limited have today been appointed exclusive partners with English Partnerships for the regeneration of the Greenwich Peninsula and to take over ownership of the Millennium Dome through a 999 year lease.

Once legally concluded the deal will provide a 20,000 seat arena inside the Dome, surrounded by an urban entertainment complex. The total investment in and around the Dome will be £200 million. The deal also provides for the regeneration of the Greenwich Peninsula through a joint venture between EP and MDL which, over its 20-year lifetime, will provide a total investment of around £4 billion, at least 5,000 new homes and an estimated 20,000 full time jobs.

Meridian Delta Limited is a consortium that includes Lend Lease (developers of the Sydney Olympic Village and the Bluewater shopping centre) Quintain Estates and Development and Anschutz Entertainment Group, the second largest entertainment company in the world.

English Partnerships expects to conclude a legally binding contract with MDL by the end of May 2002, but it is intended that it will provide both a guaranteed minimum price for the land that English Partnerships is putting into the joint venture and a substantial share of the overall remaining profits of the joint venture.

The precise amount to be received by EP over the lifetime of the deal depends on the final details of the deal and the amount of development ultimately undertaken.

However, it will amount to several hundred million pounds and is structured in such a way that is likely to generate better value for the public sector than could have been achieved through either the deals with Nomura or Legacy. The deal also provideds for MDL to take on all of the risks associated with operating and maintaining the Dome. The public sector's only remaining interest will be to receive a share of profits once they exceed a threshold, still to be determined.

We welcome the fact that the National Audit Office is scrutinising the sale process and will report to Parliament. We have kept the NAO informed throughout and will continue to do so.

Baroness Goudie

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When a Liquidator will be appointed for the New Millennium Experience Company. [HL2099]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton

Following the orderly winding-down of operations by the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC), the company's directors today took steps to commence a members voluntary liquidation and I, as NMEC's sole shareholder, have formally appointed Richard Heis and Stephen Treharne, two partners of KPMG, as liquidators.

NMEC's final annual report and financial statements for the period of 1 January 2001 to 18 December 2001 will be available tomorrow and I will be placing copies of the report in the Libraries of both Houses.