§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to944W his answer of 21 November 2001, Official Report, column 327W, on rural bus services, how much of the money outlined in the Rural White Paper for the Rural Bus Challenge and Rural Transport Partnership programme was spent in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02; and how much each initiative has received. [18781]
§ Ms KeebleA total of £21 million was allocated to new Rural Bus Challenge projects in 2000–01, spending over a number of financial years. Expenditure in that year on all Challenge projects, including those begun in previous years, was £11 million. There is £20 million available for awards in this year's Rural Bus Challenge competition, decisions on which will be announced shortly. Forecast expenditure in the current year on all projects is £23 million.
The Countryside Agency's Rural Transport Partnership Programme spent £4.8 million in 2000–01. For this financial year, formal grant offers total £7.1 million to date, of which £2.9 million has been spent.
§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 21 November 2001,Official Report, column 327W, on rural bus services, if he will specify (a) the size of the samples for rural areas and (b) the areas the samples were carried out in (i) 1992 to 1994, (ii) 1995 to 1997 and (iii) 1998 to 2000. [18680]
§ Ms KeebleThe sample size of households in rural areas within Great Britain in the National Travel Survey were
- (i) 1992/94: 1,419
- (ii) 1995/97: 1,091
- (iii) 1998/2000: 754.
The areas used to select household samples consist of one or more postcode sectors, which cannot be specified because of confidentiality. The sampling procedure is set out in the annual National Travel Survey Technical Reports available in the Library of the House.