To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the (a) unclaimed and (b) returned sums from each local authority's local transport plans for the last year for which figures are available. [129721]
Most capital funds paid through the Local Transport Plan system to local authorities are subject to financial flexibilities which are sufficient to ensure that none are unclaimed or returned. The exceptions relate to funds allocated for major local transport schemes—through grants under Section 56 of the Transport Act 1968, or through credit approvals.As Section 56 grants are claimed in arrears and are subsequently subject to audit, local authorities invariably claim only as much as they need to cover works undertaken on a particular scheme in a particular financial year, and no grant needs to be returned. The authorities that claimed less than the full amount offered by the Government for major schemes in 2002–03 are listed as follows.
Authority
| Scheme
| Unclaimed amount (£) |
| Sandwell MBC | Hagley Road Bus Showcase Route | 300,000 |
| Tyne and Wear PTA | Stephenson's Link | 887,000 |
| Tyne and Wear PTA | Metro Track Dualling | 199,000 |
| Newcastle CC | Quayside Public Transport | 392,000 |
Where under-claiming is the result of a delay in delivering a scheme, the Government may decide to offer a corresponding additional grant for the scheme in subsequent years.
There is no corresponding 'claim' for credit approvals. Following a local authority bid, the Government may decide to make credit approvals available, at times and levels decided by Ministers. Local authorities that chose not to take full advantage of credit approvals made available in 2002–03 are listed in the following table. These sums were subsequently reallocated as credit approvals for other local authority transport schemes.
Authority
| Scheme
| Unclaimed amount (£)
|
| Bolton MBC | Quality Bus Corridor | 155,999 |
| Bradford CC | South Bradford Integrated Transport | 2,122,000 |
| Cheshire CC | Chester Park and Ride | 1,480,000 |
| East Sussex CC | A22 Dualling | 23,000 |
| Gateshead MBC | Centrelink | 276,410 |
| Salford CC | Trafford Road Improvement | 617,000 |
| Staffordshire CC | Biddulph by-pass | 300,000 |
| Stockport MBC | Manchester Airport Eastern Link Road | 89,000 |
| Tyne and Wear PTA | Stephenson Link | 50,000 |
| Tyne and Wear PTA | Metro Track Dualling | 300,000 |
| Warwickshire CC | Nuneaton Development Project | 240,000 |