§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Prime Minister what has been the total funding to date of the United Kingdom 200 initiative set up by his predecessor under the chairmanship of Mr. Richard Branson; which voluntary organisations have been involved; what have been the achievements of the initiative; whether he has any further proposals to develop this initiative; and whether he will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterTotal Government funding to March 1991 will be £9.434 million. The partner voluntary organisations in England are the British Trust: for Conservation Volunteers, the Civic Trust, Community Service Volunteers, Groundwork, Friends of the Earth and the Royal Society for Nature Conservation. In Wales the organisations involved are the same apart from the Civic Trust, and in addition the Keep Wales Tidy Campaign. In Scotland, the organisations are the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Conservation Projects, Community Service Volunteers and Keep Scotland Beautiful.
The main achievements have been high-quality, practical environmental improvement projects, training and work experience together with the creation of new 394W environmental enterprises. This work has been carried out in partnership with the public and private sectors. In 1989–90 there were 717 projects which generated 7,819 training places and 54,218 volunteers and which attracted £2.423 million support from the private sector.
In England United Kingdom 2000 phase 2 began on 31 March 1991 and, subject to performance, the voluntary organisations will continue to receive grant until March 1993. United Kingdom 2000 (Scotland) will be launched as a company limited by guarantee in April 1991. The initiative in Wales has recently been fully reviewed; the next steps are now under consideration.