§ Mr. Alasdair MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what ports in the UK are included in the Trans-European Network transport network; and what(a) EU and (b) UK funds have been used for improving facilities at those ports in each year since 1994. [129466]
§ Mr. HillAt present, no individual ports are specifically included within the transport Trans-European Network (TEN). Rather, projects at inland ports and seaports may be eligible for European Union (EU) TEN funding if they correspond to the specifications or criteria set out in Section 4 and 5 of Annex II to the TEN guidelines (Decision No. 1692/96/EC of 23 July 1996).
To date, EU TEN funding to ports has only been offered in relation to studies. Since 1995, when the TEN 560W programme was introduced, the UK ports which have been allocated funding, and the total funds offered, are as follows:
£ million Year Ports receiving funds EU funding 1995 None — 1996 None — 1997 Portsmouth; Great Yarmouth; Boston; 0.70 Port of London; Southampton; Felixstowe; Heysham 1998 Portsmouth; Sunderland; Tyne; Humber; 1.60 Heysham; Southampton; Harwich 1999 Great Yarmouth 0.24 The Government have not provided any funding for improving facilities at UK ports during the period 1994 to 2000.