§ Mr. EdwardsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the distribution to Welsh local authorities of the additional funding for rural transport announced in the Budget.[45948]
§ Mr. HainThe Welsh share of the additional funding announced in the Budget is £2.5 million in 1998–99. Of this, £2.25 million is being distributed to local authorities to provide additional funding for socially necessary bus services in rural area, with the remaining £250,000 retained centrally to be used in support of rural community transport initiatives.
A Special Grant Report will shortly be laid before the House setting out the proposed allocation of the £2.25 million to local authorities and the conditions attached to the grant. Following consultation with the 676W Welsh Local Government Association, I intend to distribute the additional resources using a formula which is based on the population of electoral wards where the population density is less than 4 persons per hectare. The provisional allocations are:
£ Isle of Anglesey 119,523 Gwynedd 197,250 Conwy 76,293 Denbighshire 90,764 Flintshire 107,241 Wrexham 76,471 Powys 221,080 Ceredigion 125,236 Pembrokeshire 145,130 Carmarthenshire 276,750 Swansea 58,017 Neath Port Talbot 117,660 Bridgend 91,448 The Vale of Glamorgan 85,212 Rhondda Cynon Taff 95,587 Merthyr Tydfil 29,686 Caerphilly 75,782 Blaenau Gwent 23,418 Torfaen 52,151 Monmouthshire 109,472 Newport 33,443 Cardiff 42,386