§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 29 November 2001,Official Report, column 1090W, on rural affairs, how many people received support through the England Rural Development Programme in 2001–02, broken down by category and amount. [20940]
§ Alun MichaelBecause applications are still being processed, figures on the number of new land-based agreements under the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP) in the current financial year are not available.
My answer of 29 November 2001,Official Report, column 1090W, gave the number and value of agreements approved under the ERDP project based schemes since they were launched in October 2000. Of these, the equivalent figures for 1 April to 31 October 2001 are:
Scheme Numbers of agreements Total value of grant approved(£ million) Rural Enterprise Scheme 122 7.7 Processing and Marketing Grant 17 4.8 Vocational Training Scheme 21 1.0 ERDP agreements typically provide a wider environmental, economic and social benefit than is apparent from the payment of grant to a single individual or business. It is not possible however to quantify precisely the number of people who benefited indirectly from the ERDP.
§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 29 November 2001,Official Report, column 1091W, on rural affairs, which organisations received support through each scheme of the Vital Village Programme grants in 2001–02; and how much each received. [20941]
497W
§ Alun MichaelInformation on which organisations have received funding, and how much they have received under the Parish Plans Scheme and the Community Services Grant have already been lodged in the Library of the House. Details on which organisations have been offered funding under the Parish Transport Scheme are as follows:
£ Description Grant offered Holy Island Parish Transport Grant 2,692 Ellingham Travel Voucher Scheme 1,771 Arkholme bike racks and bus shelter 7,909 Melling with Wrayton Bus shelter 4,555 Nuthall Community Bus 9,439 Evergreen Club Transport 750 Ryton On Dunsmore Community Bus 10,000 Bicton Bus Shelter 2,372 Rockland St. Mary (Year 1) 2,475 Surlingham Rural Bus Service 7,524 Ventnor Town Council Parish Scheme 5,800 Feock Bus Shelter 4,403 Winford Parish Transport Grant 450 Blockley Hedgehog Bus service 1,864 Total 62,004
§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce a rural equivalent of the Excellence in Cities scheme; and if she will make a statement. [20911]
§ Alun MichaelThe Excellence in Cities scheme, which has been promoted by the Department for Education and Skills (DFES), is already being extended outside major cities, through the Excellence Clusters. These will tackle smaller areas of disadvantage, including some rural areas. By September 2002 there will be 24 clusters, including some serving areas in West Cumbria, County Durham and Lancashire. More clusters will be announced in subsequent years. Ministers and officials at DEFRA will strongly support the lead given by colleagues at DFES in spreading this excellent initiative to rural areas rather than establishing a new initiative in competition. We welcome the success of the Excellence in Cities initiative, which is designed to address disadvantage through a programme of support including learning mentors, learning support units and a programme for gifted and talented pupils, and the way the initiative focuses on the needs and aspirations of pupils and their parents. It currently involves 58 authorities and by 2003–04 some £300 million will be spent in EiC schools. The extension of the programme to Excellence Clusters started in September 2001. Excellence Clusters are smaller groups of schools outside major cities which work together to implement the EiC programme.