§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the uptake of rural transport innovation grants, showing the number of applications, the number and value of grants paid, and the reasons for any refusals, in each region; how much of his budget for this scheme has not been used; and if he has any plans to promote public transport in rural Scotland.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe information about the uptake of rural transport innovation grant is set out in the table. Grant totalling £39,601 was approved on rural transport schemes in 1986–87 and a further £41,099 has been approved in the current financial year to date. Provision of £170,000 has been available in both 1986–87 and 1987–88.
Since the scheme began in June 1986, 10 applications for grant assistance have been rejected because they did not meet the criteria. Applications were mainly rejected because the service was already operating, or duplicated an existing service, or was not in a rural area.
In an effort to encourage further interest in the scheme a publicity leaflet/poster was widely distributed in August 1987 to regional and islands councils, district and community councils and to various voluntary organisations. Further promotion of the scheme will be considered as appropriate.
Regional/Islands council No. of applications received1 No. of Grants Approved Value of Grants Approved £ Borders 1 1 2,000 Central — — — Dumfries and Galloway 5 3 32,330 Fife — — — Grampian — — — Highland 3 — — Lothian 1 — — Strathclyde 5 1 12,250 Tayside 3 2 32,000 Orkney — — — Shetland — — — Western Isles 2 1 2,120 1 Includes two applications (one in Strathclyde, one in Western Isles) which are under consideration.