Lancashire county council, the scheme’s promoter, will shortly be submitting a bid for full (final) approval which will contain an assessment of the effects on the local economy of the new M6 Heysham link road. This will be considered along with other information before a decision on the scheme is taken.

The number of looked after children in Lancashire local authority who were adopted in the years ending 31 March 2010, 2011, and 2012 is 60, 50 and 70 respectively. Information at constituency level is not available.

This information has been taken from table LAE1 of the Statistical First Release ‘Children Looked After by Local Authorities in England (including adoption and care leavers)—year ending 31 March 2012’. This Statistical First Release can be found on the Department's website via the following link:

http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/a00213762/children-looked-after-las-england

and copies of this report will be placed in the House Libraries.

Information on the numbers of young people at each location, who have received payments from the 16-19 Bursary Fund since it began in September 2011, is not held centrally. Information on payments made in Lancaster and Fleetwood will be held by the schools, colleges and training providers concerned.

The 16-19 Bursary Fund is worth £180 million a year nationally. Funding will continue until the end of the current spending review period in 2015.

Ensuring the flow of credit to viable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK is a core priority for this Government.

We have taken a number of steps to ensure better access to bank finance, including:

Encouraging banks and building societies to increase lending to UK households and businesses by lowering interest rates and increasing access to credit, through the Funding for Lending Scheme.

Ensuring viable businesses with insufficient track record/collateral to secure a commercial loan, can still borrow from banks through the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG). From January 2009 to date, there have been 22 EFG loans offered and drawn down in Lancaster and Fleetwood with a total value of £2.42 million.

We have also taken a number of steps to encourage the development of alternative sources of finance, including incentivising private sector investment and creating the conditions for small companies to grow using a range of financing tools. Measures include:

Increased funding for the Start-Up Loan Scheme by £30 million to £110 million. The scheme provides advice and start-up finance (around £2,500) for 18 to 30-year-olds looking to start and grow their own businesses. Since its launch in 2012, there have been 28 loans approved in Lancashire with a total value of £130,000.

Direct investments in non bank sources of finance, through the £1.2 billion Business Finance Partnership (BFP).

A six month pilot from early 2013, providing a Government guarantee to Kingfisher Group to facilitate additional trade credit to SMEs.

Increased funding for the Government's Enterprise Capital Funds programme, increasing our commitment by £200 million, providing for more than £300 million of venture capital investment to address the equity gap for early stage innovative SMEs with the highest growth potential.

Establishment of a £50 million Business Angel Co-Investment Fund. The Fund invests with syndicates of business angels who are interested in investing in SMEs in qualifying areas of England.

In order to consolidate all these interventions, and address the funding gap faced by small businesses, we have also announced the creation of a new Government-backed business bank. The Business Bank will receive £1 billion of Government funding, which it will use to lever in extra private sector finance. £300 million of this will be invested by the Government and private investors over the next two years to provide diverse sources of funding for SMEs.

The Government wants to make the UK the best place in the world to start, finance and grow a business. We are supporting businesses across the UK by enabling better access to both debt and equity finance; reducing red tape; providing easier access to public procurement opportunities; and making sure that the support we provide is delivered in the most effective and efficient way possible.

The Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which includes Lancaster and Fleetwood, brings together business and civic leaders to drive sustainable economic growth.

Several Regional Growth Fund (RGF) projects have been selected in the county of Lancashire which have benefitted the whole area:

Regenerate Pennine Lancashire: a £7.5 million programme, leveraging over £30 million private sector investment, to provide capital investment for small and medium-sized enterprises to expand.

Lancashire Business View: a £4 million pan-Lancashire Programme providing capital grants to start up and young companies.

Subject to due diligence (Round 3 contracting) the Lancashire LEP area has been allocated approaching £30 million across Rounds 1, 2 and 3 of the RGF.

The provision of clinical services, including accident and emergency services, is a matter for the local national health service. My hon. Friend may wish to contact the local trust directly.

There are two courtrooms at Lancaster, but only one is used for criminal work. Based on this one criminal courtroom, the utilisation for the period July 2011 to June 2012 was 53%.

Funding approval for the Heysham to M6 link road scheme was granted in February 2011. Subject to successful completion of the remaining statutory procedures and final approval, Lancashire County Council, the scheme’s promoter, plans to start construction in July 2013.

[holding answer 18 October 2012]: A copy of Lancaster city council's application for funding for the Clusters of Empty Homes programme will be placed in the Library of the House.

In 2011, orders for new construction work in Lancashire (excluding Blackpool and Blackpool with Darwen) amounted to £456 million. Latest figures show that in the first half of 2012, new orders totalled £262 million.

Figures are not compiled for areas below local authority/county level.

Our planning reforms are putting unprecedented power in the hands of communities to shape the places in which they live. These reforms make the local plan, produced by local people, the key to delivering sustainable development that reflects the vision and aspirations of local communities. In those specific instances where local planning authorities have previously refused permission within the past two years for two or more substantially similar proposals on the same site, or a substantially similar proposal had been rejected on appeal, they have powers to decline to determine applications.

There are currently no museums in the Lancaster area receiving funding from this Department.

The Arts Council and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) did not provide funding to museums in the Lancaster area in the last 12 months. The MLA’s museum functions were absorbed by the Arts Council in October 2011.

However, Helmshore Mill and Queen Street Mill museums in the Lancaster area benefited from renaissance museum development funding, which was part of the £300,000 awarded to the north-west for museum development support by MLA in 2011-12.

The latest information provided to the Department by the scheme promoter—Lancashire county council—is that the scheme will be finished by December 2015. This will require statutory procedures to be completed and the approval of the Secretary of State for Transport on the amendments to the orders.

The Department does not hold the information requested. These are matters for the scheme promoter, Lancashire county council.