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6 Mar 2006 : Column 1082W—continued

Museums (Purchasing)

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will reintroduce a special grant for national galleries and museums to buy works of art that suddenly and unexpectedly come onto the market. [56025]

James Purnell: There are no plans to introduce a special grant for national galleries and museums to buy works of art that suddenly and unexpectedly come onto the market.
 
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National museums and galleries sponsored by DCMS can purchase acquisitions using grant in aid, lottery grant, or self-generated income, including bequests and donations, and can apply for grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and the Art Fund.

New Opportunities Fund

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money has been (a) committed and (b) distributed by the New Opportunities Fund since its creation. [55981]

Mr. Caborn: The table shows money committed and distributed by the New Opportunities Fund since its creation until 31 January 2006.
New Opportunities Fund

	£
Commitments	3,237,075,213
Lapsed/revoked	152,602,030
Distributed	2,251,447,190

Sports Bodies

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what role the Government plans for (a) local sports councils and (b) sports trusts. [56483]

Mr. Caborn: It is envisaged that local sports councils will have a key role in shaping and delivering sport at the local level as part of the emerging Community Sports Networks which are alliances of local delivery agents working in partnership to increase participation in sport at a local level.

The Audit Commission is currently undertaking a study into the different types of management arrangements available to local authorities for operating leisure services and how they approach the task of choosing the option best suited to local needs. This is expected to include a consideration of the potential implications of each of these options, including for charitable sports trusts.

I will ensure a copy of the study is placed in the Libraries of both Houses once it is published.

Wembley Stadium

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the construction of Wembley stadium. [54702]

Mr. Caborn: Multiplex, the building contractors, are working hard to finish Wembley stadium as quickly as possible but have been unable to give the Football Association (FA) the 100 per cent. guarantee it needs that the stadium will be completed in time to host the 2006 FA cup final.

A written ministerial statement was made to the House on 27 February 2006 by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.
 
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Wembley stadium will be well worth the wait; it will be the best stadium in the world and a great piece of construction engineering. Millions of people will enjoy Wembley stadium and the whole country will take pride in it.

World Cup

Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which of the stadium venues for this year's football World Cup she has visited. [56344]

Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not recently visited any of the stadia to be used in the 2006 Football World Cup in Germany.

TRANSPORT

A5 Ring Road

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had about upgrading the A5 ring road in Shrewsbury as an alternative to the north west relief road. [55149]

Dr. Ladyman: The Secretary of State has had no discussions about the upgrading of the A5 ring road as an alternative to the north west relief road.

Aircraft Movements

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to establish on how many occasions since 1 January 2001 US-registered aircraft (a) N44982, formerly N8068V and N379P and (b) N313P have landed at a UK airport. [55384]

Ms Buck [holding answer 2 March 2006]: I have agreed that Eurocontrol should release their data to Dick Marty, chair of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, on a confidential basis in order to contribute to their inquiry into rendition.

Bingley Relief Road

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people are waiting for compensation payments agreed with his Department for the work carried out on the Bingley relief road; and when he expects outstanding payments to be paid. [55245]

Dr. Ladyman: As at 1 March, the Highways Agency's valuers (the Valuation Office Agency) have agreed terms with 619 claimants of which 26 have been processed for payment by 7 March. The Highways Agency is waiting for responses to a further 834 compensation offers. Claims will be processed for payment in a rolling programme as soon as all the necessary procedures have been completed. We would expect the majority of the claims to have been paid no later than February 2007.

Digital Smart Cards

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) company, (b) vehicle and (c) driver digital smart cards he expects to have been issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency by 1 May 2006. [55158]

 
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Dr. Ladyman: Since July 2005 the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) have issued 2,751 company cards and 11,110 driver cards. It is not possible to estimate how many will be issued by 1 May 2006, as this will depend on the number of applications the DVLA receives. There is no vehicle digital smart card.

Driving Hours Rules

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the merits of extending the hours rules to cover drivers of (a) school buses and (b) commercial vans. [55086]

Dr. Ladyman: There are two sets of rules governing drivers' hours in the UK. Most drivers of school buses and commercial vans operate under the UK domestic drivers' hours legislation as opposed to the European Union (EU) Regulations which require the use of tachographs. This is because buses on routes less than 50 kilometres, and goods vehicles under 3.5 tonnes, are specifically exempted from the EU Regulations.

A new EU Regulation on drivers' hours has recently been adopted by the EU institutions. Although, during negotiations, consideration was given to extending the scope of the new regulation to include all buses on routes less than 50 kilometres and light vans between 2.8 and 3.5 tonnes, this change was not made.

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the merits of extending road transport drivers' hours rules to cover the drivers of cars being used for business purposes. [55098]

Dr. Ladyman: We have made no such assessment. However, the Driving at work" guidance for employers published by the Department and the Health and Safety Executive jointly in September 2003 covers such things as the need for company drivers to have realistic schedules and to consider the need for proper rest, especially after a long working day. That guidance is available online at:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg382.pdf.

Driving Licences

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will raise the age for provisional driving licences to 18 years. [56239]

Dr. Ladyman: We have no plans to do so. We decided in 2004, following a substantial consultation exercise on a structured approach to learning to drive, that further statutory regulation on the way new drivers learn would be unlikely to make enough of a contribution to road safety to justify legislative action at present.

Foreign-based Freight Operators

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many Vehicle and Operator Services Agency lead prosecutions have taken place of (a) UK and (b) foreign-based freight operators over the last five years. [55165]

 
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Dr. Ladyman: The following table represents UK operators and driver/operators prosecuted by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) from 2001–02 to date. Data prior to this date is not held by VOSA. VOSA does not hold central data on the prosecution of foreign based operators.

	Number
2001–02	8,692
2002–03	8,718
2003–04	6,830
2004–05	4,927

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