§ Mrs. ShephardTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether(a) she, (b) Department officials and (c) the Countryside Agency gave instructions to suspend payments on the Countryside Agency's Vital Villages programme from 16 April to 1 June 2003. [125855]
§ Alun MichaelThe Countryside Agency manages the Vital Villages programme on behalf of Defra. Day to day decisions on the operation of the scheme are a matter for the Agency.
The Countryside Agency did not suspend payments under the programme but did call a temporary halt to making any new commitments while they considered how to target the programme for the remainder of the year. By May 2003 almost two thirds of the 2003–04 budget was allocated.
§ Mrs. ShephardTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether there was variation between budgeted and actual expenditure in the period from April 2002 to March 2003 in the Countryside Agency's Vital Villages programme. [125856]
§ Alun MichaelThe Countryside Agency's Vital Villages programme budget allocation was £17.5 million in 2002–03 and the actual expenditure on grants was £17.25 million. Within the overall programme the Rural Transport Partnerships budget allocation was £8.2 million and actual expenditure was £9.9 million.