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8.5 pm
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr. Chris Smith): I beg to move, To leave out from "House" to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:
- "believes that the Millennium Experience--and the many other Millennium activities--represent both an excellent celebration for the people of this country and a tangible and enduring legacy for future generations; further welcomes the announcement that the New Millennium Experience Company team will be introducing improvements which deliver even greater value for money both to the paying visitor and to the Millennium Commission; and, in particular, notes the record attendances at the Dome in the week commencing 7th February and the recent high satisfaction ratings amongst visitors."
I am sure that our discussions this evening will focus on the dome, but it is important that we see it in its proper context. Unlike the hon. Gentleman, I think that
context matters. We have always said that the dome was the centrepiece of the country's overall millennium celebrations. Those celebrations comprise a rich and colourful tapestry of projects and schemes that embrace the whole country and will enrich our cultural life for many years. There are projects as diverse as the immensely successful dynamic earth centre in Edinburgh, the new Tate gallery of modern art on Bankside and the spectrum of new village halls and greens that are being supported throughout the country.There are also projects such as the millennium awards scheme, which enables thousands of ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things. It has helped 10,000 people to date, aged between 16 and 92. Grants from the millennium festival fund will enable communities in villages and towns across the country to mark the millennium in their own special way. Two projects were opened to the public just last week--the new art gallery and conservation centre at the Peter Scott wildfowl and wetlands trust headquarters at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire and the access no barrier project, which is a centre providing facilities for the physically handicapped and able bodied club in Jarrow.
Of course the dome matters, but it matters because it is part of a wider entity, not because it is the entirety of what we are doing. Let us remember that four fifths of Millennium Commission funds are going to projects, events and people other than the dome.
Mr. Richard Spring (West Suffolk): The right hon. Gentleman has made our point. Because everything has been so dome-centric, attention has not been drawn to all the other worthwhile and magnificent projects. With all their appalling handling of the situation, the Government have ensured that attention is focused on the dome. That has discredited the whole millennium exercise.
Mr. Smith: I hesitate to point out to the hon. Gentleman that it might have been better if the Opposition had tabled a motion about the entirety of the millennium celebrations, events and projects if that was how they felt.
It saddens me to hear the hon. Member for East Surrey criticising the project and trying to make the dome a partisan issue. One of the project's greatest strengths is that it has enjoyed good cross-party support. Neither the dome nor the other millennium projects should be seen as the property of one political party. The Conservatives are trying to do that. I am sorry that they are unable to feel some pride in their initiative to use part of the national lottery for millennium schemes. It was their idea to have a strand of lottery spending devoted to the millennium, their idea to establish the Millennium Commission and their idea to develop the dome. It is not, and should not be seen as, a political entity. The same is true of the other millennium projects and events. The aim of all the projects is to represent the aspirations of a nation and to provide an opportunity for enjoyment for communities and individuals across the UK.
Mr. Mike Hancock (Portsmouth, South): I am sure that everyone applauds the successful millennium projects to which the Secretary of State has referred. What does he feel about the second millennium failure--the plastic cone-topped tower in Portsmouth? It has been four years in the planning with three false starts, but still there has been no contract, no planning permission and no works
act, yet £14 million of lottery money is still tied up in the project. Will he give us an update on that project and tell us when it will be built?
Mr. Smith: I understand that the rest of the Portsmouth scheme, involving the rehabilitation of the waterfront, is forging ahead very well. The city council is in discussion with the Millennium Commission about the tower. It has some proposals that appear to be viable. They need to be tested but, if they are indeed found to be viable, they will be proceeded with.
The hon. Member for East Surrey talks about political interference in the project. I cannot accept that accusation. The Government are not running the millennium experience, nor should we be. The previous Government recognised the national significance of the project by appointing a Minister as sole shareholder of the operating company. We have retained that arrangement because we believe that it is right for a national project of this scale to be subject to proper parliamentary accountability.
It was important that the Minister holding the share should not be the same Minister as the one chairing the Millennium Commission--that is, myself--and ultimately providing the finance. As the New Millennium Experience Company shareholder, Lord Falconer is accountable to Parliament for the millennium experience. That means that he needs to take an active interest in the project's development and progress along its critical path, but that is very different from interfering in the day-to-day management, which is the responsibility of the NMEC board.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: How then does the Secretary of State explain the frustration and exasperation repeatedly expressed by Jennie Page about the constant, almost daily, interference by Ministers in affairs that she considered to be her own?
Mr. Smith: That is not something that she has ever said to me. If it had happened, it would have been regrettable; but it did not. The shareholder of the millennium experience set the overall parameters, along with the Millennium Commission, which is funding the project, but the day-to-day development and running of the experience are up to the board of the company and those running it. The Government believe in proper accountability, not unnecessary interference. We are not in the business of directly running visitor attractions.
I am proud to account for what has been achieved so far. Let us consider the first weekend: the turn of the millennium year. Well over 4.5 million people joined in the festivities in the 22 cities that received special grants from the commission to celebrate the run-up to, and the arrival of, 2000. As the report that I placed in the Library the other week shows, the celebrations were a great success and were well received by both those who attended and those who watched on television.
The dome opening celebrations involved more than 10,000 people, the majority members of the general public, and was viewed by 1 billion people on television around the world. The four millennium Church services on 2 January in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast involved more than 5,000 people: members of
communities and Christian congregations the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, as well as members of the royal family and both Government and Opposition Members of Parliament.
Mr. Ainsworth: Will the Secretary of State remind the House how much compensation was paid to those who had their evening spoilt on new year's eve?
Mr. Smith: If the hon. Gentleman will wait a moment, I am just about to come to that.
In addition to the millennium Church services on 2 January, the shared act of reflection and commitment by the faith communities of the UK, held in the Royal Gallery here at the Palace of Westminster the following day, was a very special and historic occasion, bringing together faith leaders and others from communities throughout the country to focus on the values that we need to shape society for the future.
Not surprisingly, there were a few glitches. Perhaps the most widely reported--or milked, depending on the agenda of those commenting--were the delays at Stratford tube station for those travelling to the dome for the opening celebrations. The arrangements for guests using Stratford did indeed go wrong. People should not have experienced the lengthy delays that they had to endure. Both NMEC and the Metropolitan police have apologised to those affected, and NMEC has offered--this is the answer to the question that the hon. Member for East Surrey asked--all those who used Stratford complimentary tickets for use during the year.
Despite the problems, virtually everyone enjoyed the evening, including many who travelled through Stratford. The millennium celebrations have continued since that first weekend. The dome opened its doors to its first paying visitors on 1 January. So far, 700,000 people have been, and the overwhelming verdict has been one of satisfaction and enjoyment. People like the dome.
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