§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his policy on allowing unspent TPP to be carried over into the next financial year. [41003]
§ Mr. NorrisUnder the TPP system, the Department of Transport makes capital allocations for local transport infrastructure by means of transport supplementary grant, grant under section 56 of the Transport Act 1968, annual capital guideline, and supplementary credit approval. The allocation of TSG in the annual local transport settlement is adjusted to take account of the amount underspent in past years. As section 56 grant is paid in arrears, the question of unspent resources does not arise. ACG is a borrowing approval that can be used on any local authority service. It is not recoverable and authorities have wide discretion over its use. SCA is allocated for a specific financial year. Local authorities are required to surrender the unused portion of their allocation.