EIGHTH REPORT
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee
has agreed to the following Report:
MARKING THE MILLENNIUM
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
I.
INTRODUCTION
1. This Report continues the work of the Culture,
Media and Sport Committee, begun almost three years ago, of monitoring
some of the capital projects funded by the National Lottery to
mark the millennium in the United Kingdom.[6]
This inquiry is different from our previous four inquiries into
the subject; we are well into the year 2000, and many millennium
projects are now operating, most notably the Millennium Dome.
From our first inquiry, we endorsed the principles behind the
capital projects programme and the Millennium Dome. With regard
to the latter project, we supported the public structures for
delivery and accountability, the architectural endeavour and certain
successes of the project management.
2. The financial performance of the New Millennium
Experience Company (NMEC) has not matched the expectations of
the Company, the Millennium Commission or Ministers. This Committee
has no wish to resile from its previous support for the Dome.
We consider some of the reasons for the present difficulties could
have been foreseen, but we accept that they were not necessarily
foreseen by this Committee, although individual members have voiced
their concerns during meetings of this Committee. It is, nevertheless,
the duty of this Committee, on behalf of Parliament, to seek to
ascertain what went wrong and why. We have also examined what
has gone right and the benefits that the Millennium Dome and other
capital projects are bringing and may bring in future.
3. In our Report Countdown to the Millennium,
we stated that we expected to conduct a further inquiry during
the Millennium Dome's year of operation.[7]
We announced this inquiry in a press notice of 18 April 2000.
As in our second Report on the millennium, we examined not only
the Dome but also other capital projects funded by the Millennium
Commission. We took oral evidence at three sessions in June and
July 2000. At the first, we took evidence from Ms Jennie Page
CBE, the former Chief Executive of NMEC, from three of the Dome's
sponsors,[8]
and representatives of three capital projects supported by the
Millennium Commission.[9]
At the second session, we examined Mr David Quarmby, the new Chairman
of NMEC, and Mr Pierre-Yves Gerbeau, the new Chief Executive of
NMEC, Greenwich Council[10]
and the two short-listed bidders for the Millennium Dome legacy
competition.[11]
At the third and final session, we took evidence from Lord Falconer,
Minister of State in the Cabinet Office and NMEC's sole shareholder,[12]
the Rt Hon Chris Smith MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media
and Sport and Chairman of the Millennium Commission and Mr Mike
O'Connor CBE, Director and Accounting Officer, The Millennium
Commission.[13]
We received a range of written evidence, some of which is published
in Volume II and the rest of which has been reported to the House
and is available for public inspection.[14]
We visited the Greenwich site and were briefed on the Millennium
Dome's finances and operations. We also visited Scotland, where
we were briefed on the work of the Millennium Commission and NMEC's
National Programme. We are most grateful to everyone who assisted
us during our inquiry.
6 Second Report from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee,
The Millennium Dome, HC (1997-98) 340-I; Sixth Report from
the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Not Only the Dome:
The Millennium Celebrations in the United Kingdom, HC (1997-98)
818-I; Third Report from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee,
Back to the Dome, HC (1998-99) 21-I; First Report from
the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Countdown to the Millennium,
HC (1999-2000) 24-I. Back
7 HC
(1999-2000) 24-I, para 2. Back
8 Mr
David Clayton-Smith, Customer Marketing, Boots The Chemists, Mr
Keith Faulkner, Director of Public Affairs, Manpower plc, and
Mr Adrian Hosford, Director, Millennium Projects, BT. Back
9 Ms
Gillian Thomas OBE, Chief Executive, @Bristol, Mr Brian Bassett,
Director of Finance and Operations, The National Botanic Gardens
of Wales, and Mr Ben Stoneham, Chairman, Portsmouth Harbour Renaissance
Limited. Back
10 Councillor
Bob Harris, Executive Officer responsible for regeneration, and
Mr David McCollum, Director of Development and Leisure Services,
Greenwich Council. Back
11 Mr
Guy Hands, Managing Director, Principal Finance Group, Nomura
International plc, Mr Peter Middleton, Chairman and CEO, Mr Mike
Swinney, President, HyperEntertainment, Ms Barbara Anderson, Responsible
for e-commerce, Principal Finance Group, Nomura International
plc and Mr Gwilym Jones, Associate Director, Ove Arup & Partners,
Dome Europe; and Mr Robert Bourne, Chief Executive, Mr Tom Quinn,
Deputy Chairman, Mr John Precious, Finance Director, and Mr Bruce
Walker, Business Development Director, Legacy plc. Back
12 Accompanied
by Mr Brian Leonard, Head of Regions, Tourism, Millennium and
International Group, and Ms Clare Pillman OBE, Head of Millennium
Unit, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Back
13 Accompanied
by Ms Clare Pillman OBE, Head of Millennium Unit, Department for
Culture, Media and Sport. Back
14 See
pp xlii-xliii for a list of memoranda published with this Report
and p xliv for a list of memoranda reported to the House, together
with details on how such papers can be inspected. Back
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