§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the total amount of money for 2002–03 that has been allocated to local authorities to commence work on the implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; and [HL3238]
On what basis they have divided any money allocated among highway authorities for the implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; whether it was by length of rights of way network within each authority, open access land to be brought into use by the public or on another basis; and, if so, what that basis is. [HL3239]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonThe overall costs of the new rights of way responsibilities in the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000 were estimated to be up to £19 million. We took this into account when setting the level of general grant for local authorities for the coming financial year in the Spending Review 2000. We also added £0.754 million to the general grant for 2002–03 through the Local Government Finance Settlement to reimburse councils for the costs of local access forums. General grant is distributed to councils through standard spending assessments (SSA) which take account of various broad social and economic factors such as population. Local authorities' responsibilities under the CROW Act 2000 are within the Environmental Protective and Cultural Services SSA Block. This increased by £360 million (4.2 per cent) between 2001–02 and 2002–03, substantially more than inflation.