§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with(a) the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and (b) Regional Development Agencies on successor organisations and programme to Vital Villages. [167972]
§ Alun MichaelThe Vital Villages programme was a three year pilot programme which was intended to explore what would best enable village communities to determine their own future. Some commentators have wrongly referred to the scheme as being "cut" when a further £14 million is being invested this year in maintaining the scheme, despite the fact that it is closed to new applicants. With a variety of partners including 1195W the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister we are considering how best to promote the lessons of the programme in seeking to target support for rural communities that need help through mainstream Government programmes such as local authority community planning, Neighbourhood Renewal and other regeneration programmes. We will also consider whether an independent successor arrangement to the Vital Villages scheme is necessary.