Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken in the last 12 months to encourage cycling.

In April 2017 the Government published the first ever statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS) for England. The CWIS details the Government’s plans for increasing cycling and walking, and identifies £1.2 billion of funding which may be invested until 2021.

Since the publication of the Strategy, the Department has identified additional funding for cycling and walking schemes, including around £77 million of support for schemes via the National Productivity Investment Fund. The Government also announced a new £1.7 billion Transforming Cities Fund in the Autumn Budget which will allow a number of cities to support projects aimed at improving local connectivity, which could include by boosting cycling and walking. The Department has recently announced a further £4m of funding for the cycle rail programme to improve cycle storage facilities at railway stations, and has commenced a major programme of technical support to help 44 local authorities in England to develop their Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs).

The Department also announced a Cycle Safety Review in September 2017, which will consider ways of making the roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians, and so help encourage confidence in cycling. Further details of the Review will be announced shortly.