§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Norwich, North constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [151140]
§ Ms Beverley HughesNorwich, North constituency has benefited from a range of Government initiatives since 2 May 1997 including:
Capital allocations for housing Year £ million 1997–98 5.39 1998–99 7.93 1999–2000 7.76 2000–01 9.17 2001–02 12.95 By 2001–02 the resources made available to Norwich city council's housing investment programme will have more than doubled since the Government came to power. In 2001–02 £9.68 million of the allocation is in the form of the Major Repairs Allowance (MRA), paid as revenue, reflecting a shift to providing resources specifically for the cost of works to maintain council housing. It is for the local authority to determine where within its boundaries these resources are invested; it is therefore not possible to give precise amounts used within the Norwich, North constituency.
Single Regeneration Budget SRB Round 1—Mile Cross, Norwich
A four-year scheme on a run-down peripheral pre-war council estate aimed to improve the quality of life for tenants through investment in the physical environment and community development, including a renovated community centre and an innovative combined heat and power scheme.
SRB total £2.245 million, £1.579 million since 1997–98.
SRB Round 4—Norwich—A Learning City
This seven year scheme aims to raise the education attainment levels and employability of the people in the five most deprived wards in Norwich, where unemployment is 7.4 per cent. against the Eastern Region average of 4.9 per cent. This includes the Mile Cross and Catton Grove wards in Norwich, North. The emphasis will be on young people with low educational achievement and disadvantaged groups.
SRB total £1.188 million, £616,000 of which will be spent by March 2002.
679WSRB Round 6—Catton and Fiddlewood
£250,000 over thee years has been awarded to the Catton and Fiddlewood Partnership to build community capacity and involvement. This will help them to prepare and submit bids for more regeneration in future years.
SRB total £250,000 for period 2000–01 to 2002–03.
East of England Development Agency (EEDA)
A land and property scheme to redevelop an old wartime concrete area in Mile Cross.
EEDA funding £153,000 since 1997–98.
Local Government Finance Settlement
The following figures show the Government grants to Norwich city council and Norfolk county council as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement.
The information for general grant (Revenue Support Grant, National Non-Domestic Rates and damping grants) is as follows:
£ million Year Norwich city council Norfolk county council 1998–99 12.467 341.529 1999–2000 12.550 362.774 2000–01 12.833 380.676 2001–02 13.112 395.21 These figures have not been adjusted to make year on year comparisons possible. There are no readily available figures for 1997–98.
It is not possible to determine the exact amounts allocated by the two councils to the Norwich, North constituency.
Local transport plans Year £ million 1997–98 17.713 1998–99 15.521 1999–2000 17.752 2000–01 29.203 2001–02 29.247 1 These figures are for Norfolk county council's Transport Policies and Programmes allocation 2 This figure is from Norfolk county council's Provisional Local Transport Plan settlement It is not possible to determine exactly how much of these amounts has been spent on Norwich, North constituency. However, the constituency has benefited from Norfolk county council's integrated transport policies.