Funding of capital projects
10. Applications for grants were invited in four
competitive bidding rounds. The Millennium Commission received
4,395 proposals for capital projects in the first three rounds,
of which 2,036 became formal applications and were subjected to
technical assessment.[34]
In August 1998, the Commission was granted powers of solicitation,
which enabled it to hold a further funding round specifically
for capital projects that reflected "the aspirations and
achievements of black communities in the United Kingdom".[35]
This responded to a concern expressed by this Committee in Not
Only The Dome.[36]
That round attracted 44 applications, from which grants have been
awarded to four, with six remaining applications still under consideration.[37]
11. In Not Only the Dome, we discussed "whether
many of the undertakings would have reached fruition without the
public commitment to the Millennium".[38]
Evidence received during the present inquiry confirmed that Millennium
Commission funding has been crucial to the realisation of many
projects.[39]
We were told by Ms Thomas that numerous attempts had been made
over the previous 20 years to create a regeneration project in
Bristol, all of which had failed. Without the support of the Millennium
Commission, Ms Thomas considered that it was "unlikely that
@Bristol would have taken place".[40]
Mr Ben Stoneham, Chairman, Portsmouth Harbour Renaissance Limited,
added that elements of the Portsmouth Harbour project would probably
have taken much longer: "the Millennium Commission money
enabled us to put everything together and move much faster".[41]
12. The Commission usually offered grants of up to
50 per cent of the total cost of a capital project.[42]
As we noted in Not Only the Dome, projects have therefore
had to try to secure considerable funding from other sources in
order to succeed.[43]
Of that funding from other sources, £32 million has been
obtained through sponsorship, £122 million through donations,
£138 million through the European regional development fund,
£140 million through local authorities, and £147 million
from regional funds.[44]
The Wellcome Trust has been the largest private source of matching
funding for Millennium Commission projects, donating approximately
£50 million towards the development costs of eight millennium
science centres and galleries.[45]
13. The Eden Project said that the requirement to
find 50 per cent partnership funding had reduced the market for
sponsorship and resulted in projects involving numerous partners,
each of which had "separate claims mechanisms and due diligence
requirements".[46]
It said that it had spent scant financial resources on independent
consultants, who contributed nothing but an additional layer of
audit protection for funding organisations.[47]
The Earth Centre in Doncaster noted that difficulties in finding
matching funding had led to it being "broken into three separate
phases", which had extended the project timetable.[48]
Mr Smith accepted that the Earth Centre's visitor numbers had
been disappointing and said that there were "special problems"
associated with the project, but that the Millennium Commission
was "in the process of helping them to sort out".[49]
14. Many of the larger projects experienced increases
in costs as a result of delays, changes in design, problems during
construction, or inflation.[50]
Few projects that have experienced cost increases applied for
further Millennium Commission funding in part because of its policy
to award additional grants only in circumstances in which the
"project might otherwise substantially fail to achieve its
original purpose".[51]
The Commission stated that "for the most part [increases]
were contained through reductions in specification which [did]
not affect the project's objectives, or by the project raising
additional funds from other sources".[52]
34 Evidence, p 122. Back
35 Ibid. Back
36 HC
(1999-98) 818-I, para 5. Back
37 Evidence,
p 122. Back
38 HC
(1997-98) 818-I, para 6. Back
39 Evidence,
pp 20, 153. Back
40 Evidence,
p 20. Back
41 Q
137. Back
42 Evidence,
p 121. Back
43 HC
(1997-98) 818-I, para 6. Back
44 Evidence,
p 123. Back
45 Evidence,
p 238. Back
46 Evidence,
p 240. Back
47 Ibid. Back
48 Evidence,
pp 186-187. Back
49 Q
443. Back
50 Evidence,
p 124. Back
51 Ibid. Back
52 Ibid. Back
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