To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the approach of the Rural Development Agencies towards funding rural transport initiatives which were transferred to them from the Countryside Agency. [HL2669]

Since April 2005 it has been for individual regional development agencies (RDAs) to determine the socio-economic priorities for the rural parts of their regions and demonstrate through their annual reports how they are achieving them. The Government have made no specific assessment of the regional development agencies' approach to funding the rural transport initiatives inherited from the Countryside Agency, although we are aware that a number of the initiatives have been continued either by the RDAs or by other bodies.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in drawing up schemes for developing innovative rural transport, they consider sustaining initiatives from previous allocations which may be short of funds. [HL2670]

A total of £110 million was awarded to local authorities that were successful in Rural Bus Challenge (RBC) competitions held from 1998 to 2003. This scheme has encouraged the development of innovative solutions to meeting rural transport needs. Many of the 300 projects initially supported by RBC funding are now continuing with mainstream funding from local authorities and other sources.

Kickstart funding for projects involving bus service improvements was first introduced by the Department for Transport on a pilot basis as part of the Urban and Rural Bus Challenge competitions in 2003. Kickstart is targeted at schemes that have the potential to become successful or which are currently marginal schemes that with some extra support could be made more successful. The Government are currently inviting local transport authorities to submit bids for funding for a new round of Kickstart projects. £25 million is available between 2009-10 to 2011-12. Kickstart support will not be used to fund projects which have previously received funding under previous challenge schemes, except in wholly exceptional circumstances. In addition it will not be available for schemes which failed to receive funding in earlier Kickstart rounds, unless they have been significantly revised.

The Government provide rural bus subsidy grant to help local authorities support rural bus services. This grant is now paid to authorities as part of their area-based funding and currently supports over 2,000 new and enhanced services on which over 33 million passenger journeys are made annually. This year's allocations total £58.5 million, rising to £60 million in 2010-11, bringing the grant's total to over £0.5 billion since its introduction in 1998. It is for local authorities to determine how they wish to use this funding, but it could be used to support schemes previously funded under earlier challenge schemes.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the Local Transport Act 2008 made it simpler for local authorities to provide vehicles and drivers for community transport schemes in rural areas. [HL2671]

The Government acknowledge that the voluntary sector can provide an important complementary role in providing transport services, particularly in areas where commercial services are not viable. That is why the Local Transport Act 2008 removes some of the restrictions associated with community transport permits, such as the payment of drivers and the size of vehicles that can be used, to enable the sector to expand its role further.

The secondary legislation associated with the community transport provisions of the Act will come into force on 6 April 2009. It is therefore too early to comment on the impact the Act has had regarding local authorities' ability to provide vehicles and drivers for community transport schemes in rural areas.