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Transport Innovation Fund

My honourable friend the Minister of State for Transport (Dr Stephen Ladyman) has made the following Ministerial Statement. In July 2004 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the creation of the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF). The fund will support:"the costs of smarter, innovative local transport packages that combine demand management measures such as road pricing with measures to encourage modal shift, and better bus services;""local mechanisms which raise new funding for transport schemes; and""regional, inter-regional and local schemes that are beneficial to national productivity." Today I am publishing further guidance on our approach to the first of these objectives, setting out the criteria we intend to use to assess bids for a second round of pump-priming to support scheme development. Copies of the guidance are available from the Department for Transport (DfT) web site at www.dft.gov.uk and in the Library of the House. The TIF represents a new approach by the Department for Transport to the allocation of some of its budget. Through the TIF, resources will be directed towards the achievement of two high priority objectives—specifically, tackling congestion and improving productivity. The principle underlying the TIF is that resources should be allocated on the basis of an assessment of how these objectives can be most effectively and sustainably met. The provision of pump-priming funding only applies to congestion TIF schemes. The Future of Transport White Paper identified the risk that, despite effective policies to promote smarter choices and network management, without radical measures, including more effective demand management, road congestion will spread over time to longer periods in the day, and to more road users. This would have negative impact on both quality of life and on the economy. Local road pricing schemes are also important in order to pilot technology and systems and to inform the decisions on the development of national road pricing in the longer term. We recognise that the development and appraisal of such packages will be a complex and costly process for many local authorities. That is why the Government decided to offer a limited number of local authorities some financial assistance with scheme development in advance of substantive congestion TIF funding. In July 2005 it was announced that up to £18 million was set aside between 2005-06 and 2007-08. The first allocations were made to seven areas in November 2005. The guidance published today covers the second allocation of funding. The guidance explains the basis on which DfT intends to allocate this pump-priming funding for the second round and sets out the information that will be required from local authorities intending to bid. The guidance applies both to authorities considering putting forward new proposals and to authorities who successfully obtained funding in the first round of pump-priming and who wish to apply for further funding. Eligibility for funding is restricted to local authorities in England. The process for allocating pump-priming funding is separate from the process of allocating the main TIF. Full guidance on the TIF was published in January 2006. It is not necessary to have had a successful pump-priming bid in order to apply for funding to the TIF through the congestion entry point. Nor does a successful pump-priming bid offer any guarantee of success in a bid for main TIF scheme funding.