§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the funding of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust. [150625]
§ Mr. PrescottI am today announcing additional funding for the Coal fields Regeneration Trust in England of up to £45 million over the three years to March 2005. This reaffirms the Government's support for the coalfields communities and the excellent work of the Trust.
The Coalfields Regeneration Trust is a key element of the Government s long-term programme to bring about the physical, social, economic and environmental regeneration of our coalfields.
The Trust provides supports for local community projects. It also sponsors projects, targeted on workers displaced from mining-related industries, who have been unemployed for a long time and who face particular disadvantages in getting back to work. It has an important role to play in community capacity building, providing a forum for good regeneration practice to be exchanged across the coalfield communities. The Trust is actively building partnerships with local, regional and national agencies and reaching out to the private sector.
With this addition funding the Trust will be able to maintain and develop further its key role in combating poverty, debt and social exclusion in the former coalfield areas.