To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether provision for Vital Villages Community Services grants exists following the abolition of the Countryside Agency. (294562)

Vital Villages was a demonstration grant programme, set up with the aim of identifying innovative approaches that would meet the needs of rural communities. The programme was set up in April 2001 and ran until 1 April 2005.

The scheme was additional to mainstream Government programmes for community support and development, which remain open to both rural and urban communities.