§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 21 November 2001,Official Report, column 321W, what work (a) has previously been done and (b) is being done to measure information on business start-ups. [18675]
§ Alun MichaelThe Countryside Agency has adopted an indicator on business health. This necessitates the collection of a range of business data including business registrations and de-registrations (business registrations only include those businesses above the VAT threshold). The Countryside Agency use the number of business registrations as a proxy indicator of total business start-ups. However, in their 2001 State of the Countryside report they presented data from the Office for National Statistics on the total number of businesses, proportion of business by employee sizeband and VAT registrations and de-registrations.
The Countryside Agency are working with the Office for National Statistics to procure accurate and up-to-date information from the Inter-Departmental Business Register for 2001. In addition they are working with the Small Business Service in looking at the broader picture of "business health" in England, in particular those businesses beneath the VAT threshold. For the 2002 State of the Countryside Report they will again publish data for rural areas on business start-ups as measured by registration and de-registration to give an accurate picture of business activity in the Countryside. This may be supplemented by data collected from a local research project.
§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 21 November 2001,Official Report, column 327W, how much of the £92 million outlined in the Rural White Paper for the Rural Bus Challenge and Rural Transport Partnership programme was spent in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02; and how much each individual initiative has received. [18782]
§ Alun MichaelA total of £21 million was allocated to new Rural Bus Challenge projects in 2000–01, spending over a number of financial years. Expenditure in that year on all Challenge projects, including those begun in previous years, was £11 million. There is £20 million available for awards in this year's Rural Bus Challenge competition, decisions on which will be announced shortly. Forecast expenditure in the current year on all projects is £23 million.
1020WThe Countryside Agency's Rural Transport Partnership Programme spent £4.8 million in 2000–01. For this financial year, formal grant offers total £7.1 million to date, of which £2.9 million has been spent.
§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 21 November 2001,Official Report, column 321W, on rural employment, if she will list the jobs by (a) category and (b) proportion that people have done in rural areas in (i) 1996, (ii) 1997, (iii) 1998, (iv) 1999, (v) 2000 and (vi) 2001. [18783]
§ Alun MichaelThe table lists rural employment by category and the percentage of people employed.
Percentage 1996 1997 1998 Energy and Water 1.0 1.0 0.4 Manufacturing 20.3 20.0 20.3 Construction 4.2 5.0 5.5 Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants 24.8 24.4 25.1 Transport and Communications 5.3 5.1 5.0 Banking, Finance, Insurance etc. 13.9 14.6 14.5 Public Administration, Education and Health 25.2 24.4 24.5 Other services 4.7 4.7 4.5 Source:
ONS Annual Employment Service
Information for 1999, 2000 and 2001 is not currently available but I undertake to write to the hon. Gentleman with this information as soon as it is to hand.
§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 21 November 2001,Official Report, column 322W, on civic amenities, how many (a) food shops, (b) post offices, (c) cash points, (d) primary schools and (e) GP surgeries within 4km of rural households (i) opened and (ii) closed in 2000. [18777]
§ Alun MichaelThe Countryside Agency's Rural Services Survey in 2000 researched the geographical availability of a range of services. This was the first year that a survey of this type had been undertaken at the household level across rural England. Full postcoded lists of services were used in the survey to calculate their availability to rural households within specified distances. The survey provides information on services available at a point in time. Future surveys will therefore provide a comparison with the base figures rather than reflecting the number of the openings and closings of services.