§ Mr. NichollsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much additional grant has been given to education authorities to provide safer school transport in each of the last five years. [144455]
§ Jacqui SmithMy Department has made no specific grants to local education authorities to provide safer school transport. Funding for school transport is included as part of local education authorities' standard spending assessments, but it is for individual authorities to decide how they spend the money. The total amount spent by local education authorities on home to school transport in England in 1998–99, the latest year for which figures are available, was £444 million. The Government recently announced £2.8 billion of capital investment over the next five years for local authorities in England for small-scale integrated transport schemes, including safe routes to schools. The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) has also supported individual local projects on safe routes to schools. It has funded a pilot programme of site-specific advice on school travel plans, will roll out a larger programme this spring, and will help to fund local school travel plan coordinators.
The Government have also worked with their School Travel Advisory Group on a programme of initiatives to improve safety and reduce car use on the journey to school. My Department, jointly with DETR, has produced guidance to schools, governors and local education authorities on measures to encourage healthier, safer and more sustainable school travel.