Asked by: Gerry Sutcliffe (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the beneficial effects of the additional cycling activity generated as a result of the Cycle to Work scheme.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department has not assessed the beneficial effects of the cycle to work scheme because the Department does not collect date on the uptake of the scheme. The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit. The Government would like to see an increase in the numbers of people cycling and the number of trips made by bicycle as it is an environmentally friendly and healthy way to get around. The Government actively encourages sustainable travel including cycling to work, and works with local authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that the government’s sustainable transport objectives are met.
The Department has not assessed the beneficial effects of the Cycle to Work Scheme because the Scheme is administered by the Cycle to Work Alliance. The Alliance has published a number of research reports, based on extensive surveys of users that have focused on the sustainable transport and public health contribution of the scheme. The reports are available on their website as follows: www.cycletoworkalliance.org.uk.
Asked by: Gerry Sutcliffe (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of (a) the effect on public health and (b) other effects of increases in the number of people cycling as a result of the Cycle to Work scheme.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department has not assessed the beneficial effects of the cycle to work scheme because the Department does not collect date on the uptake of the scheme. The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit. The Government would like to see an increase in the numbers of people cycling and the number of trips made by bicycle as it is an environmentally friendly and healthy way to get around. The Government actively encourages sustainable travel including cycling to work, and works with local authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that the government’s sustainable transport objectives are met.
The Department has not assessed the beneficial effects of the Cycle to Work Scheme because the Scheme is administered by the Cycle to Work Alliance. The Alliance has published a number of research reports, based on extensive surveys of users that have focused on the sustainable transport and public health contribution of the scheme. The reports are available on their website as follows: www.cycletoworkalliance.org.uk.
Asked by: Gerry Sutcliffe (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have taken up the Cycle to Work scheme in each year since that scheme's establishment.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Department does not retain data on the uptake of the Cycle to Work scheme. This is because the Cycle to Work scheme is an employee benefit covered by an exemption and therefore employers do not have to make an annual tax return regarding the benefit; meaning the Department does not collect the data.
Independently of Government however, the Cycle to Work Alliance have published reports containing information on take up of the scheme: http://www.cycletoworkalliance.org.uk/news.html.
Asked by: Gerry Sutcliffe (Labour - Bradford South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the level of potential loss of trade to independent high street opticians following the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's decision to award its vision testing contract to Specsavers.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
In the past, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) dealt with many individual opticians on an ad-hoc basis. Although the individual cost per optician was relatively low, the aggregated spend on the service meant that the contract had to be tendered via the Official Journal of the European Union process. This is in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006.
As part of the procurement process, the DVLA identified that 2,009 optical practices carried out vision testing services. The new contract means that independent practices are no longer required to carry out on average 20 assessments per year. This equates to around 10 hours of work.