§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the meetings his Ministers have had with representatives of the voluntary sector to discuss the impact of the reduction of the urban programme, including an account of the representations made; and what action he intends to take as a result of these representations.
§ Mr. Robin SquireI have met representatives of the voluntary sector to discuss how the changes to the urban programme might affect them. I welcome the valuable work that the voluntary sector does in urban areas and I am pleased that the urban programme will be able to continue to fund voluntary sector projects that have been approved in this or previous financial years, for up to four years. The voluntary sector draws its funding from a wide range of sources and non-urban priority authorities support such groups without additional assistance from central Government.