Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to open a fourth round of applications for the Active Travel Fund.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
Active Travel England was launched in January 2022 to manage the £710m Active Travel budget and to drive up the standards of Local Authority projects.
Further information on the process will be published shortly.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many bridleways have been incorporated into safe cycling routes to date.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government is committed to ensuring that the public has good access to the countryside through the creation of new, waymarked and maintained paths. It is, however, for local authorities to decide how and where to incorporate bridleways into their cycling networks and to maintain them accordingly, and the Department does not hold a central record of this. The UK-wide National Cycle Network, managed by Sustrans, incorporates a number of bridleways, and the Department has provided £20 million to Sustrans during the current financial year to improve and resurface parts of the network.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will have discussions with Ministers in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities about design standards for flats to allow for (a) safe cycle storage in common parts and (b) sufficient space standards in flats for bicycles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Ministers and officials regularly meet with counterparts in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to discuss a range of issues including the role of the planning system in supporting the Government’s walking and cycling ambitions. The Department updated its Cycle Infrastructure Design Guidance in 2020 and this includes advice on the provision of residential facilities for cycle parking.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what role he expects cycling and electric bicycles to have in Local Transport Plan 4 and the decarbonisation of transport.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department aims to consult later this year on the future of Local Transport Plans (LTPs) and will issue guidance to Local Authorities making clear that decarbonisation is one of the central requirements in the development of their LTPs. As part of their LTPs, Local Authorities will be expected to incorporate plans to enable more short journeys to be made on foot or by cycle, including electrically assisted bicycles.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues in the Home Office on the (a) enforcement of the law against aggression towards cyclists and (b) number of successful prosecutions in relation to the extent of that matter.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department agrees that all road users should be treated with respect and does not condone any form of aggression against cyclists or any other road user. The recent changes to The Highway Code are designed to bring about a positive shift in road user behaviour between those who drive, walk, cycle and ride horses. Decisions on enforcement priorities are entirely a matter for individual police forces, however, and the Department does not hold data on the number of successful prosecutions.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what requirements he places on train operating companies to provide sufficient and certain bicycle storage on trains.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The government currently contractually requires Train Operating Companies to permit folding cycles on all passenger services and non-folding cycles where reasonable. All Train Operating Companies currently allow carriage of cycles on trains, though provision varies by operator. In The Williams Shapps Plan for Rail the government committed to increasing space for cycles on existing trains wherever practically possible and that all future train fleets will need to include more cycle spaces relevant to the markets served. The government also committed to making it easier to reserve cycle spaces on trains online.
In addition, the government has provided over £42m funding since 2012 through the Cycle Rail Fund to support over 20,000 new secure cycle storage spaces at train stations, as well as access improvements, security enhancements, cycle maintenance equipment and cycling routes to stations.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when funds for Active Travel 3 will be available; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department hopes to make an announcement on this matter shortly.