§ Mr. Edward DaveyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assistance his Department intends to give to local authorities wishing to initiate permanent park and ride schemes. [142064]
§ Mr. HillPark and ride schemes developed by local authorities as part of their Local Transport Plans can help reduce congestion while maintaining accessibility to town and city centres. Outside London my Department provides funding to local authorities for transport infrastructure through the Local Transport Plan system. This can be used for park and ride schemes but it is for local150W authorities to determine priorities within their programmes. Inside London the allocation of funds in response to Boroughs' Interim Transport Plans is a matter for the Mayor and Transport for London.
Our revised planning guidance note PPG13 on Transport, which is due to be published soon, will give further guidance on planning aspects of park and ride proposals. Advice on other aspects of setting up and operating bus-based park and ride schemes is given a Good Practice Guide published earlier this year by the English Historic Towns Forum with the support of the Department.
The Secretary of State has already made clear that he will give priority to well designed and well conceived park and ride schemes. The Department's 10-year plan "Transport 2010" published in July shows that we expect up to 100 new park and ride schemes to be implemented during the next 10 years.