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15 Nov 2005 : Column 1136W—continued
Government Art Collection
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 1 November 2005, Official Report, column 896W, on departmental spending, if she will itemise the works of art bought in 2004–05; and what the cost of each was. [28754]
Mr. Lammy: The works of art purchased by the Government Art Collection (GAC) in the 2004–05 financial year are listed in a separate document. I am arranging for copies of the document to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The GAC does not publish the prices paid for individual works of art purchased directly from the artist, individual or from a dealer as information of this nature would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests both of the GAC in its purchasing activities generally and of the relevant artist, individual or dealer. This practice is consistent with the practice of the national collections.
However, the prices paid for works of art acquired at auction are published by the auction houses, and in these cases are listed in the document referred to previously.
The Government Art Collection is part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; its acquisition policy is guided by the Advisory Committee on the Government Art Collection which is a non-departmental public body. Members are both independent and ex-officio, including the directors of the National Galleries.
Olympic Games
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations her Department has made to the Treasury on funding for the British Olympic Association programme Clearing the Bar; and what her policy is on the source of baseline funding for the UK Olympic team in preparation for 2012. [25973]
Mr. Caborn: I understand that the British Olympic Association's report 'Clearing the Bar' will be available later this year. We will consider the report then in discussion with UK Sport, the Government's lead adviser on high performance sport.
Lottery funding is the primary source of public funding for UK's elite athletes. Some Exchequer funding supports UK Sport's World Class Performance Programme by focusing on corporate governance and organisational performance.
The Government are investing considerable amounts of public funding in high performance sport. In advance of the Beijing Olympic Games, UK Sport will invest a total of £121.6 million lottery and exchequer money in elite sport (2005–09). This includes investing £75.3 million in the World Class Performance Programme to support the National Governing Bodies in financing their performance plans, and £22.5 million for the Athletes Personal Awards scheme to help athletes pay their sporting and living costs.
15 Nov 2005 : Column 1137W
Public Libraries
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) books, (b) videos, (c) DVDs and (d) CDs were lent by public libraries in (i) Tamworth and (ii) Staffordshire in each year since 1997. [27496]
Mr. Lammy: This information is not held centrally. However, the following table shows the number of loans of sound recordings (encompassing music and talking books) and videos and DVDs for Staffordshire for the period 1997–98 to 2003–04. This information is drawn from the Public Library Statistics, published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. These are collected at library authority level and do not contain comparable details for the Tamworth borough area.
| Sound recordings | Videos/DVDs | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 299,348 | 56,344 |
| 1998–99 | 287,702 | 65,518 |
| 1999–2000 | 266,706 | 75,927 |
| 2000–01 | 287,637 | 92,259 |
| 2001–02 | 329,090 | 126,336 |
| 2002–03 | 332,476 | 151,122 |
| 2003–04 | 316,509 | 167,565 |
National Minimum Wage
Ms Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many employees in her Department were affected by the rise in the national minimum wage on 1 October. [28967]
Mr. Lammy: None of my employees were affected by the rise in the national minimum wage on 1 October.
TRANSPORT
A19
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 28 October 2005, Official Report, column 597W, on the A19, how many fatalities took place on the A19 between Tyneside and Teesside in the last five years. [28758]
15 Nov 2005 : Column 1138W
Dr. Ladyman: The number of fatalities between 2000 and 2004 on the A19 between Teesside and Tyneside are shown in the table.
| Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 5 |
| 2001 | 2 |
| 2002 | 4 |
| 2003 | 3 |
| 2004 | 6 |
Cycling
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what basis local authorities determine (a) along which stretches of major roads cycle lanes are provided and (b) how those cycle lanes are to interlink with other infrastructure, with particular reference to bus stops. [28082]
Derek Twigg: The provision of cycle lanes on major and other roads is a matter for individual highway authorities as is the way in which cycle lanes interlink with other public transport infrastructure such as rail and bus stations.
Advice to highway authorities on the planning and design of facilities for cycling is given in Cycle-friendly Infrastructure" published jointly by the Department, the Institution of Highways and Transportation, the Cyclists Touring Club and the Bicycle Association. This publication provides specific advice on cycle lanes and how cycling infrastructure can be integrated with public transport.
The Department plans to publish an updated version of Cycle-friendly Infrastructure" in 2006.
DfT Rail
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the costs were of winding up the Strategic Rail Authority and forming DfT Rail; and what the sources were of these funds. [27946]
Derek Twigg: The winding up of the Strategic Rail Authority will not be complete until the end of this financial year. As such, final outturn costs are not available. The current estimate of the financial costs and benefits is set out in the table.
Freight
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are being taken to increase the use of rail to move freight. [28055]
Derek Twigg:
I refer my hon. Friend to the written statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 19 July 2005, Official Report, columns 71–73 WS, setting out the Government's policy towards rail freight.
15 Nov 2005 : Column 1139W
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether an assessment has been made of the steps taken by rail franchisees to increase the level of freight moved by rail. [28056]
Derek Twigg: Only passenger services are let by franchise. Freight services are provided by freight operating companies (FOCs) who use the rail network under 'open access' provisions.
Efforts to increase level of freight moved are therefore a matter of private sector competition in the marketplace.
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of effects on other freight users of the Royal Mail's renegotiation of its night rail contracts. [28057]
Derek Twigg: The Royal Mail's re-negotiation of its rail contracts is a commercial matter for the parties involved.
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much freight was moved by rail in 2004–05, broken down by (a) region, (b) rail franchisee and (c) time of day that the freight is moved. [28058]
Derek Twigg: The total amount of freight moved by rail in 2004–05 was 20.7 billion net tonne kilometres. The Department does not hold a breakdown of this figure into the categories specified.
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost to the rail industry in upgrading freight services to accommodate high cube non-standard containers. [28084]
Derek Twigg: Overall cost estimates of network upgrades to accommodate larger containers are carried out on an individual project or route basis. The Department does not hold overall figures.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what compensation arrangements will be put in place for freight transporters affected by the Crossrail development. [20801]
Derek Twigg: If freight transporters' property rights are affected they will be entitled to compensation under the National Compensation Code. If freight services are disrupted by Crossrail construction, the appropriate rail industry arrangements will apply. In the unlikely event that contractual access rights need to be altered to allow for the operation of Crossrail, the Crossrail Bill provides for compensation.
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