§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding was given by(a) the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, (b) the Rural Enterprise Scheme and (c) landfill tax to village halls in each of their years of operation. [159677]
§ Alun MichaelOnly very partial information is available. I list such information as we have:
(a) Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund
The Fund was introduced by the Finance Act 2001 and came into force on 1 April 2002. The levy was set at £1.60 per tonne of aggregates produced. The fund was launched in 2002 and will continue for at least a further three years. The Fund consists of £20 million for England for 2004–05 and is distributed by a number of organisations including the Countryside Agency, English Heritage, English Nature, and Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Somerset county councils. Information is not collected in a form that permits the total amount of funding for village halls from this source to be established, but, up until last May, at least £70,776 has been distributed to village hall projects.
(b) Rural Enterprise Scheme
Funds are available under the Rural Enterprise Scheme (part of the England Rural Development Programme, or "Pillar 2" of the Common Agricultural Policy) to help 'renovation and development of villages' and 'basic services for the rural economy and population'. The scheme is selective and is delivered by Defra's Rural Development Service in line with regional budgets and priorities agreed with local partners.
428WSupport is provided to village hall and other community projects but disaggregated figures relating solely to village hall projects are not available. Total funding for the relevant two measures is as follows:
£000 2001–02 126 2002–03 1,146 2003–04 13,053 1 Forecast. (c) Landfill Tax Credit Scheme
Under the Landfill Tax Credit scheme landfill operators can reduce their tax liability by funding environmental or community projects. The scheme is not available to all village halls (the scheme's rules mean that projects have to be within 10 miles of a landfill tax operator's site). Grants are issued through registered environmental bodies and each will have its own priorities. Action for Communities in Rural England estimate that perhaps £1 million has been provided for village hall projects.
The scheme was reformed from 1 April 2003. Approximately one third of funding (around £47 million) is to be made available through a reformed tax credit scheme for spending on local environment projects. Village halls, where they meet the criteria, will still be able to apply for funding. Government have no involvement in how the funding is spent. As yet, it is not possible to say what proportion will go to support village halls.