NOT ONLY THE DOME:
THE MILLENNIUM CELEBRATIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
I.
INTRODUCTION
1. It is now only seventeen months until the people
of the United Kingdom begin to celebrate the new Millennium. Last
year we issued a Report following an inquiry into the central
focus of the publicly-organised celebrations—the Millennium
Dome at Greenwich.[1] In
the present inquiry we examine not only progress with the Dome,
but also the multi-faceted plans for celebrating the Millennium
across the United Kingdom.
2. At Westminster, we took oral evidence from the
Rt Hon Chris Smith MP, Chairman of the Millennium Commission as
well as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, from
Glenda Jackson MP, Minister for Transport in London, from the
Chairman and the Chief Executive of the New Millennium Experience
Company—Mr Robert Ayling and Ms Jennie Page—and from
Mr Peter Mandelson MP, the Minister without Portfolio but with
responsibility for the Millennium Dome. We also received a number
of memoranda from other organisations and individuals, some of
which are published in Volume II of this Report and the remainder
of which have been reported to the House and are available for
public inspection.[2] In
addition, we undertook four separate visits to enhance our understanding
of the wider dimensions of the Millennium celebrations and the
opportunities and benefits which they might offer. The visits
were to Glasgow, Alloa and Wester Hailes in Scotland, Cardiff
in Wales, and Salford and the site of the Millennium Dome in England.[3]
We wish to express our gratitude to all those who assisted us
during our inquiry and in particular to all those involved in
Millennium projects across the United Kingdom who offered us insights
into their plans and aspirations.
1 Second Report from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee,
The Millennium Dome, HC (1997-98) 340-I. Back
2 For
details of how such papers can be inspected, see p xxix. Back
3 See
Annex for further information about the visits. Back
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