§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was invested by the Government, broken down by financial years, in the Foresight Vehicle LINK programme; whether the programme is still live; what assessment of the programme has taken place and at what cost; and if she will make a statement. [77902]
§ Ms HewittThe Foresight Vehicle LINK programme is still open. Foresight Vehicle has just published a technology road map identifying critical technology and research themes and this, taken together with the recommendations of the Automotive Innovation andGrowth Team, will be used as the basis for future calls for proposals. Sponsor departments will be meeting in the next few weeks to discuss the timing of the next call. It is too early for a full formal evaluation of the research to date, but on completion, individual projects are assessed against their objectives by the Programme Management Panel. In addition, themed dissemination events are held regularly and papers have been presented at international conferences. Details of the research portfolio and progress are also made available on the Foresight Vehicle website www.foresightvehicle.org.uk
Government commitment is as follows (these figures include the EPSRC Innovative Manufacturing Initiative Road Transport Programme which has been subsumed into Foresight Vehicle):
983W
Financial Years (£k) DfT DTI Highways Agency MoD EPSRC Total Earlier years — 1,060 — — 3,131 4,191 1997–98 — 646 — 62 3,810 4,518 1998–99 — 1,544 — — 4,087 5,631 1999–2000 55 1,005 — — 3,903 4,963 2001–01 388 600 951 — 4,168 6,107 2001–02 622 1,463 63 — 1,277 3,425 2002–03 992 982 400 — 1,161 3,535 Total 2,057 7,300 1,414 62 21,537 32,370