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Regional Start-ups
10. Dr. Phyllis Starkey (Milton Keynes, South-West): What measures he is planning to help new start-ups in the regions. [65200]
The Minister for Small Firms, Trade and Industry (Mr. Michael Wills): Support for start-ups is seen as making a significant contribution to economic growth, prosperity and competitiveness. The recent competitiveness White Paper set out a commitment for business link partnerships to provide sustained, tailored advice and support to innovative start-ups with real growth potential. Our target is that at least 10,000 businesses a year will receive such support by 2001.
Dr. Starkey: My hon. Friend will be aware that UK science is at the international forefront in biotechnology, but that there is a relatively poor take-up of biotechnology in start-ups of small firms in the UK, compared with the United States. The major advantage in the United States is the ready availability of venture capital for such biotechnology firms. What action are the Government taking to ensure that venture capital is readily available here in every region?
Mr. Wills: My hon. Friend draws attention to an important matter. It is crucial that start-ups, especially in
high technology, get access to the right sort of capital. The competitiveness White Paper set up plans to that end. We are setting up an enterprise fund worth £150 million over three years. There will be a national venture capital fund, which we are currently discussing with leading financial institutions. We also want to set up regional venture capital funds, and we will work with the regional development agencies to develop that proposal.CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT (MILLENNIUM EXPERIENCE)
The Secretary of State was asked--
Corporate Sponsors
33. Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst): If he will list the corporate sponsors of the millennium dome. [65225]
The Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting (Janet Anderson): Last November, the New Millennium Experience Company announced confirmed sponsorship of £120 million from Tesco, Manpower, BT, BSkyB, Marks and Spencer, Boots the Chemist, McDonald's, British Airways, GEC, British Aerospace, the Corporation of London, British Airports Authority and Camelot. In addition, Thames Water is funding the innovative grey water recycling facility at the dome. That is a fantastic achievement in anyone's books.
Mr. Forth: I welcome the Minister to this aspect of her responsibilities and thank her for her answer, which already shows an openness that we had come not to expect from her predecessor. May I urge her to go yet further and confirm that, henceforth, the secrecy that we came to expect--in retrospect, we can understand why it existed--will be swept aside, and she will share with the House and the country all aspects of the financing of the dome project, so that we can see that there is nothing hidden, nothing secret and nothing to be ashamed of, and, most importantly, that all the sponsorship is absolutely clean and above board?
Janet Anderson: We have always been very open about the project. I shall continue to be as open as my right hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson), who always answered fully any questions raised in the House. The right hon. Gentleman would do his country better service if he would get behind the project and give it the support that it deserves.
Mr. Andrew Reed (Loughborough): I welcome the list of sponsors. What sponsorship was in place when the Government took office in May 1997, and what would have happened to the dome if we had let that legacy stand? More importantly, what progress has been made on the spirit zone, and what sponsorship will be available to ensure that the dome celebrates the millennium in the way that was intended, as a religious festival marking 2,000 years since the birth of Christ?
Janet Anderson: My hon. Friend has raised an important point. When the Government took over, no sponsorship whatever was in place. More than
£120 million of sponsorship has now been committed to the millennium experience and the New Millennium Experience Company is well on the way to reaching its £150 million target. Good progress has also been made on the spirit zone, both in design and construction and in raising the necessary sponsorship.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth (East Surrey): I hope that you will forgive me, Madam Speaker, for remarking that this is an odd occasion: here we are at the butt end of Trade and Industry questions, and it is rather like an end-of-run panto in which the demon king, consumed in a puff of his own sulphur, has left the show for good.
I warmly and sincerely welcome the Minister to her new role as fairy godmother to the project. I wish her well in answering questions on it, even though she is not responsible for the project. She obviously is not a former flatmate of the Prime Minister, as one has to be a crony to get a top job. Will she make a new start and undertake to be open, frank and honest in all her dealings concerning the project, and to give it to us warts and all? Will she begin by telling us how many of the zones still have to be fully sponsored?
Janet Anderson:
I say to the hon. Gentleman, as I said to the right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth), that I wish that Conservative Members would get behind this unique national project. This country is rapidly becoming recognised internationally as the country of the millennium. Raising £150 million of private sector sponsorship is a considerable challenge, but no one has ever before decided to stage such a unique national event. I remind the hon. Member for East Surrey (Mr. Ainsworth) that, when this Government took office, the previous Government had not raised one penny of private sector sponsorship for the project.
34. Mr. Tony McWalter (Hemel Hempstead):
What plans he has for the Millennium Experience to celebrate the human capacity to think. [65226]
The Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting (Janet Anderson):
The mind zone, one of fourteen exhibits in the millennium experience dome, will celebrate the unique creativity of the human brain by exploring the nature of our senses and perceptions through traditional art and advanced technology.
Mr. McWalter:
I thank my hon. Friend for that answer and express my pleasure in welcoming her to her new duties. I am a member of the National Committee for Philosophy, a post which naturally carries no remuneration. Those functions that require recognition, such as the contribution that philosophers have made to our culture in the past thousand years, may be left out because some bodies are unable to get the high levels of sponsorship that will be needed to obtain space in the dome. Will my hon. Friend be receptive to representations
Janet Anderson:
I reassure my hon. Friend that we are well aware of his expertise in this area and proud to have him as a colleague. We are always willing to meet anyone who has an interest in the dome. The mind zone will show how medical imaging technology allows us to follow the response of our brains to sensory input. Visitors will interact with advanced, intelligent robots in the robot zoo and enjoy a specially commissioned film showing images that challenge the very limits of our senses.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley (South-West Surrey):
Is the hon. Lady aware that so much of the thought of the past millennium, and the creativity and achievements of people around the world, has been inspired by the Christian faith? In spite of her earlier and welcome answer, is she aware that many people feel that the millennium dome has been hijacked by new Labour to act as a party political launch pad, including much of the language and imagery? It is essential, when she advises her noble Friend who has taken responsibility for the millennium experience, that she tells him that the dome is not a party political launch pad but a celebration of the achievements of our nation in the past millennium while looking forward to the future.
Janet Anderson:
I assure the right hon. Lady that we have never attempted to make the dome a party political launch pad. Indeed, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, at a well-attended event held yesterday to explain what we are doing for the millennium, made it plain that the project was started by the Conservatives. If the right hon. Lady wishes to make cheap political points, I remind her that her right hon. Friend, Michael Heseltine--[Interruption.] I am sorry, I mean the right hon. Member for Henley (Mr. Heseltine). He has been involved in the project from the start. I hope that the right hon. Lady will get behind this unique national project, which is recognised internationally as a symbol of the millennium. She should give it her full support.
Dome (Maintenance Costs)
35. Mr. Gordon Prentice (Pendle): What is the estimated annual cost of maintaining the fabric and structure of the dome. [65227]
The Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting (Janet Anderson): The New Millennium Experience company estimates that the cost of necessary maintenance inspection work on the dome fabric and structure during 2000 to be about £30,000. Such regular inspections will help keep maintenance costs to a minimum.
Mr. Prentice: I warmly congratulate my hon. Friend on taking up her new and challenging responsibilities. May I remind her that, although it seems like only yesterday, it was two months ago that the right hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson) told us the dome would be with us for a quarter of a century?
Mr. Eric Forth (Bromley and Chislehurst): Well, he wasn't!
Mr. Prentice: I was not responsible for scripting that.
My hon. Friend has told us that £30,000 will be spent on the upkeep of the dome during 2000. Would it not be a good idea to spend a little more on the extra bit of paint that might extend the design life of the dome beyond 25 years, taking, perhaps, the Eiffel tower as an inspiration for what can be done?
Janet Anderson:
I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for taking the issue seriously, unlike Opposition Members. The lifetime of the dome's roof is estimated at 25 years, which is one reason why there is that cut-off. However, as the Prime Minister has said, the dome is too good to pull down, and we want to find a fitting use for it beyond 2000. The Deputy Prime Minister's Department is responsible for English Partnerships, and he has asked officials to work out proposals for the best mechanism by which to encourage and assess expressions of interest, including a timetable and criteria against which bids may be judged.
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