To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials have had with the European New Car Assessment Programme; what issues were discussed; and if he will make a statement. (93219)

In 2005 I spoke at the 10 year Anniversary Conference that celebrated the contribution Euro NCAP had made to improving the safety of new passenger cars. The conference also identified the continuing challenges for road safety and the role of the automotive industry in delivering new safety technologies.

Officials from the Department attend the Euro NCAP management meetings that take place three times each year in addition to routine technical level discussion on an ad-hoc basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department provided to the European New Car Assessment Programme in each of the last two years; for what purposes the funding was provided; and if he will make a statement. (93220)

The United Kingdom contributed £214,533 to Euro NCAP in 2004-05 and £130,430 in 2005-06. We anticipate a similar contribution as made in 2005-06 for this financial year.

These figures are broken down in the following table: