§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on areas of outstanding natural beauty in each region in(a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03 to date. [78391]
§ Alun MichaelThe Countryside Agency, which manages the expenditure on Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has provided the following figures:
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Region 2001–02 2002–03 North East 407,692 133,748 (545,000) North West 216,126 108,001 (310,000) Yorkshire and Humberside 80,358 13,677 (189,000) East Midlands 69,400 (10,570) (75,000) West Midlands 492,998 109,916 (449,000) East of England 369,966 78,227 (308,000) South East and London 1,227,573 406,730 (1,555,000) South West 923,526 362,617 (1,805,000) Nationally 1,108,429 412,077 (970,000) Total: 4,896,069 11,635,563 (6,206,000) 1Actual spend to date for 02/03 as at 29 October 2002 is given along with, in brackets, the expected total spend based on current commitments. The Agency advises that figures for 2000/01 are not available in this format because the programme for areas of outstanding natural beauty that year was part of a wider theme on protected landscapes, taking in national parks, Heritage coasts and Heritage landscapes. The total spend on the theme was £4.4m.