§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much money each local authority received from the Government under the rural bus subsidy scheme in(a) 1998–99 and (b) 1999–2000; and how much each local authority is expected to receive in 2000–01. [132300]
§ Mr. HillMy Department is responsible only for Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG) payments to English local authorities; the figures requested for these authorities are set out in the table. In February this year we announced that RBSG was to continue for a further three years from March 2001. In addition to support under the rural bus subsidy scheme we have also provided £28 million for 104 schemes approved in the first two Rural Bus Challenge competitions in 1998 and 1999; a further £20 million is available for this year's Challenge competition.
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£ RBSG 1998–99 Payment RBSG 1999–2000 Payment RBSG 2000–01 Allocation Shire counties Bedfordshire 145,860 383,347 442,974 Buckinghamshire 265,000 560,903 561,112 Cambridgeshire 790,268 770,212 790,268 Cheshire 475,000 474,580 612,812 Cornwall 1,098,045 1,114,651 1,221,068 Cumbria 957,384 957,384 957,384 Derbyshire 450,000 703,001 714,122 Devon 1,409,020 1,409,020 1,409,020 Dorset 579,362 579,362 579.362 Durham 604,510 357,816 604,510 East Sussex 300,000 559,229 559,229 Essex 693,164 735,774 1,050,249 Gloucestershire 794,084 794,084 794,084 Hampshire 685,000 894,468 894,468 Hertfordshire 345,000 420,844 443,714 Kent 1,289,989 1,214,225 1,289,989 Lancashire 319,000 751,438 751,438 Leicestershire 240,500 492,610 556,163 Lincolnshire 1,194,385 1,194,385 1,194,385 Norfolk 1,230,000 1,594,337 1,594,337 North Yorkshire 567,600 1,138,648 1,380,246 Northamptonshire 370,000 685,079 696,765 Northumberland 300,000 365,809 476,343 Nottinghamshire 522,686 516,619 522,686 Oxfordshire 647,356 926.906 926,906 Shropshire 630,354 630,354 630.354
£ RBSG 1998–99 Payment RBSG 1999–2000 Payment RBSG 2000–01 Allocation Somerset 1,017,790 974,750 1,017,790 Staffordshire 201,300 661,480 809,149 Suffolk 751,195 1,163,973 1,201,593 Surrey 576,917 610,684 610,684 Warwickshire 500,000 596,387 596,387 West Sussex 293,252 579,324 579,324 Wiltshire 786,146 786,146 786,146 Worcestershire 402,000 642,141 675,505 Passenger Transport Authorities Greater Manchester 70,000 132,231 132,321 Merseyside 62,669 82,590 83,474 South Yorkshire 338,768 338,768 338,768 Tyne and Wear 54,151 43,759 82,047 West Midlands 80,874 71,025 86,800 West Yorkshire 114,000 555,733 555,733 Unitaries Bath & North East Somerset 139,000 136,874 139,970 Blackburn with Darwen 15,642 36,284 39,026 Bracknell Forest 26,245 18,093 40,038 Bristol 3,559 4,707 6,522 Darlington 31,912 31,584 48,352 East Riding 118,336 534,323 534,364 Halton 5,764 8,670 12,685 Hartlepool 16,523 16,019 16,872 Herefordshire 287,400 519,918 522,462 Isle of Wight 145,273 159,000 159,271 Medway 87,475 34,990 87,475 Middlesbrough 7,779 11,542 11,542 Milton Keynes 52,000 61,330 71,496 North East Lincolnshire 42,652 32,331 42,652 North Lincolnshire 133,000 252,872 257,450 North Somerset 111,000 116,458 132,855 Peterborough 46,200 56,286 84,040 Plymouth 9,756 9,756 9,756 Poole 7,421 3,705 7,421 Redcar and Cleveland 30,713 56,497 56,497 Rutland 70,627 87,257 107,010 South Gloucestershire 191,415 191,415 191,415 Stockton-on-Tees 22,904 33,832 33,832 Stoke-on-Trent 5,387 5,423 5,423 Swindon 36,810 51,144 55,773 Telford and The Wrekin 52,406 76,048 76,048 Thurrock 17,188 38,176 38,176 Torbay 4,192 8,377 8,384 Warrington 59,644 59,644 59,644 West Berkshire 89,760 231,520 232,602 Windsor & Maidenhead 28,000 34,993 50,584 Wokingham 51,108 54,351 77,436 York 31,500 72,731 73,216 Total 124,131,220 230,510,228 32,500,000 1 The total is less than the £32.5 million allocation because the timing of the Budget announcement, and the need to establish a new grant mechanism, meant that the money was spent over less than a full financial year. The balance was transferred to the 1998 Rural Bus Challenge. 2 Total payments were slightly less than the full total allocation of £32.5 million because unspent grant from the previous year was carried forward and offset against authorities' allocations. Again the balance was transferred to the Challenge competition for that year.