HC Deb 07 November 2001 vol 374 cc259-60W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the loss recorded in the Royal Mint annual report for 2000–01 includes a sum which is owed to the Princess Diana Memorial Fund. [12536]

Ruth Kelly

The loss recorded in the Royal Mint annual report for 2000–01 does not include any proceeds owed to the Princess Diana Memorial Fund.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what sum from the proceeds of the minting of £5 coins in 1999 in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales has been paid over to the Princess Diana Memorial Fund. [12537]

Ruth Kelly

The sale of commemorative and collector coins in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales raised £7,393,000 by 25 July 2001. This will be used to offset voted expenditure on projects put forward by the Diana Memorial committee. It was never intended to pay the proceeds into the Princess Diana Memorial Fund.

The main projects are: a playground in Kensington Gardens, opened in July 2000; a walkway running through London's Royal Parks—Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James' Park; a fountain in Hyde Park by the Serpentine, due to be built by summer 2003; and the establishment of eight Diana Nursing Teams, each led by paediatric nurses trained in palliative care, to work in the community providing support to children with life limiting conditions, and their carers, as an alternative to hospital based care.

The total cost of the park projects to date is £6,000,000. The Diana Nursing Teams cost £2,000,000 in 1999–2000 and £2,000,000 in 2000–01, and further expenditure is intended to continue and expand the programme in future years.

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