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History Museum

Mr. Dykes: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what response she has given to the proposal for an official museum of British history. [12463]

Mr. Sproat [holding answer 3 February 1997]: The proposal to establish a museum of British history, which is the subject of an application to the Millennium Commission, does not require the approval of the Department of National Heritage. This is an interesting proposal, and I am sure that the Millennium Commission will give the application careful consideration.

World Cup 2006

Mr. Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on the latest meeting between the Football Association and the Minister of State in connection with the Football Association's bid to host the World cup in 2006. [14622]

Mr. Sproat: I met the FA yesterday afternoon to discuss concerns about their World Cup bid.

The FA explained that they had made the formal decision to go ahead with a World cup bid after the success of Euro 96, and publicly announced the bid on 1 July last year. Since July, there have been several occasions on which the FA's bid had been publicly referred to in the presence of both UEFA officials and the German FA. These included a dinner held to mark the retirement of Sir Bert Millichip at the London Hilton on 19 September and a UEFA dinner held to congratulate England on the success of Euro 96 in Geneva on 12 November.

On 30 October FA officials visited the headquarters of FIFA, the world football governing body, in Zurich and were briefed about the World cup bidding process. I understand that this meeting followed a letter from the FA's chief executive, Graham Kelly, to both the president of FIFA, Dr. Havelange, and the general secretary, Sepp Blatter, on 10 September confirming that the FA had decided to bid. At this stage, countries interested in bidding for the World cup can only make their intentions known publicly. The formal submission of bids does not take place until 1999, and the decision is made in 2000. Apart from England and Germany, other possible contenders are Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Peru and Ecuador.

The FA explained that a fax had arrived at the FA's headquarters on 31 January from the general secretary of UEFA, Gerhard Ainger, which said that that week's meeting of the UEFA committee had

4 Feb 1997 : Column: 587

"recalled that it had already committed itself to supporting the candidature of the Football Association of Germany as organiser of the World Cup of 2006". This recollection apparently referred to discussions that had been held several years previously. I understand that this was the first time that any such endorsement of the German bid had been communicated to the FA. Since receiving this information, the FA has asked UEFA for the minutes of the meeting or meetings at which this issue was discussed and an indication of how the decision taken was communicated to the member associations within UEFA.

To date, I understand that no records of the decisions have been forthcoming from UEFA and UEFA officials are now reported to have acknowledged that no such records exist. Its media director is quoted in today's newspapers as saying that "UEFA's official support for Germany is not recorded in any minutes".

In these circumstances, the FA has drawn the obvious conclusion that any discussions that took place could not have been of any great significanceor they would have been formally minuted and notified to the member associations.

The FA believes that UEFA has a responsibility to all member associations and should consider carefully the merits of any case presented by any one of them to stage the World cup. It also sees a clear need for an open and democratic assessment of all bids so that football secures the best venue possible to stage the World cup. I understand that the FA will be meeting UEFA shortly, and will be seeking clarification of UEFA's intentions.

From the information presented to us, we find it difficult to understand UEFA's position. FIFA makes the decision on where the tournament will be held, and has indicated that it will not be influenced by UEFA's decision.

I have written today to my opposite number in Germany to express my hope that our bids can be conducted in a spirit of friendly rivalry. I have also sought to ascertain whether or not he understood that a decision had already been made by UEFA to back the German bid.

The Government strongly support the FA. We believe that the FA's bid is an excellent one, and one that has every chance of success. We staged an outstanding Euro 96, the facilities at our grounds are second to none and lottery funds have been earmarked to ensure that the new stadium at Wembley will be the finest in the world and a fitting venue for the 2006 World cup final. We ask only that there is a level playing field, and that the respective bids be judged on their merits.

I am very much looking forward to the dinner I am hosting on 11 February and the reception on 12 February to promote this excellent bid, which will provide a further opportunity to demonstrate our support.

WALES

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the current situation in the BSE crisis. [13566]

4 Feb 1997 : Column: 588

Mr. Jonathan Evans: The measures introduced by the Government to protect the public health from any risk from BSE continue and returns for BSE enforcement measures show continuing high compliance rates. The BSE epidemic is in sharp decline as a result of the controls in place, particularly the ruminant feed ban.

We have been working actively to meet the pre-conditions in the Florence agreement and will continue to work for a progressive lifting of the export ban. The Government have committed over £250 million in direct financial support to producers to help keep the production and marketing chains open and thereby ensure the survival of the UK beef industry.

Mr. Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many meetings he has had with National Farmers Union representatives to discuss BSE and related matters. [13627]

Mr. Evans: Welsh Office Ministers and officials have had numerous meetings with the NFU to discuss BSE.

Departmental Publicity

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will provide (a) his Department's budgeted expenditure on (i) advertising, (ii) publicity and (iii) public information campaigns for the period January to March 1997 and (b) the actual expenditure on (1) advertising, (2) publicity and (3) public information campaigns in the period January to March in each of the past five years. [13458]

Mr. Hague: Welsh Office budgeted expenditure on advertising and publicity, which includes public information campaigns for the period January to March 1997, and out-turn expenditure for the period January to March 1996 is set out in the table. For previous financial years comparable information is not readily available.

Period	Advertising £	Publicity and public information campaigns(23)£
Budgeted expenditure
January-March 1997	47,133	758,378
Actual expenditure
January-March 1996	216,460	863,099

(23) Expenditure figures for publicity and public information campaigns cannot be disaggregated.

Conferences (Ministerial Participation)

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which conferences he has addressed since taking office. [13555]

4 Feb 1997 : Column: 589

Mr. Hague: Since taking office I have addressed the following conferences on official business:

	Conference	Location
12 July 1995	Consumer and Local Government Conference	Cardiff
29 September 1995	Launch of World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre of International Toxicovigilance	Cardiff
22 October 1995	University of Wales/Welsh Secondary Schools Association Conference	Pontypridd
29 November 1995	Transtech Conference	Videolink
25 January 1996	Tourism and Access in Wales	Cowbridge
26 January 1996	European Regional Strategies for the Automotive Industry Colloquium	Cardiff
13 February 1996	ICL Lunch-part of a conference	London
30 April 1996	Student Disability Conference	Video Message
15 May 1996	Wales European Business Fair	Cardiff
20 May 1996	Food Seminar	Llandudno
3 June 1996	Launch of Regional Technology Plan	Cardiff
25 September 1996	National Parks Authorities Conference	Llandudno
16 October 1996	Council of Mortgage Lenders	Cardiff
7 November 1996	Welsh Association of Health Authorities and Trusts	Ewloe
13 November 1996	IOD Conference	Cardiff

Pensioners (Care Homes)

Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the average weekly cost of a place in (a) a statutory residential home, (b) a voluntary residential home and (c) a private residential home for an individual over pensionable age who is in receipt of income support.[13554]

Mr. Jonathan Evans: The information requested is not held centrally.

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