§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list for each of the last five years for which figures are available(a) the total allocation to Shrewsbury and Atcham from the Rural Bus Fund and (b) the number of (i) additional and (ii) improved bus services supported by these grants; and if he will make a statement. [113484]
§ Mr. HillThe rural bus subsidy grant is allocated at county council level and it is for each county to decide which services to support. In the first year of the grant, 1998–99, Shropshire county council was allocated £630,354. The same amount has also been allocated to the council for 1999–2000 and 2000–01.
In 1998–99 Shropshire county council used its allocation to fund 46 services, of which 16 served Shrewsbury. Of the total of 46 services, 16 were entirely new and 30 improvements to existing services. We shall be obtaining information on any changes to those figures at the end of the current financial year.