§ Mr. HallTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what factors underlie the overestimate in the budget for freight facilities grants for the years 1994–95 and 1995–96. [16526]
§ Mr. WattsThe 1994–95 freight grants budget was £13.347 million. This was notionally split into £3.347 million freight facilities grants and £10 million for the new track access grants. Spend on FFG at year end was £2,803 million. The shortfall was caused by two large claims not being submitted until the following year.
The 1995–96 freight grants budget was £14,415 million, notionally split into £3.415 million for FFG and £11 million for TAG. FFG spend was £4.007 million.
The provision made for TAG in these years was based on independent consultancy assessment of rail freight traffic likely to face difficulty in meeting newly introduced Railtrack track access charges. The first TAG awards were made during 1996 and payments are now being made.