HC Deb 21 February 2000 vol 344 cc703-4W
Mr. Breed

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what percentage of rural parishes have(a) no bus service and (b) no daily bus service. [109811]

Mr. Hill

My Department does not collect information in this form.

However, I understand that results from a 1997 survey of rural parishes in England carried out for the Rural Development Commission (RDC) show significant variation according to parish size, and were as follows:

Parish population size (persons) No bus service1 (%) No daily bus service2 (%)
0–99 60 93
100–199 34 92
200–299 21 89
300–499 17 84
500–999 13 77
1,000–2,999 9 57
3,000–9,999 8 31
All under 10,000 22 75
1 No bus stop in the parish
2 A service that runs 7 days per week

Results from the Department's own National Travel Survey for the period 1996–98 show that 85 per cent. of rural households are within 13 minutes walk of a bus service which runs at least every weekday.

In its first year following introduction, the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant provided for over 1,800 new or improved services in 1998–99 in rural England. These services are not reflected in the data.