Written question asked by Julia Goldsworthy (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 2 February 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 4 February 2009. It was answered by Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour) on Monday, 9 February 2009 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Freight: Grants

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the economic model against which freight facilities grant applications are assessed; when this economic model was last updated; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The principles of the economic model used for the assessment of freight facilities grant applications are outlined in Department for Transport publication "Guide to Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) in England" which was published in November 2006 and is currently being reviewed. The document can be downloaded free of charge from:"http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/freight/railfreight/rfg/freight facilitiesgrantguide.pdf."The purpose of the economic model is to ensure that grants are only awarded when there is a financial need for funding. Annex 4 of the aforementioned guide deals with the financial appraisal of FFGs and, in its first paragraph, states that:""The main financial requirement for a FFG is that compared with the road alternative, the proposed rail or water scheme would not be financially justified without grant.... This can only be a general guide; it may not cover the entire issues specific to each application. The Department can offer help and advice on specific cases.""

Secondary information