Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much central Government investment has been provided to (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands to upgrade the cycling network in those areas in each of the last five years.

Since 2010, local authorities in England have benefited from over £600m of funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) for sustainable transport initiatives, including cycling and walking, through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and its successors the Sustainable Travel Transition Year and Access Fund. Details of the areas where DfT funding has been provided can be found at: http://maps.dft.gov.uk/funding-for-sustainable-travel/index.html

Coventry City Council received £3.496m of DfT funding from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund between 2011-15 for the “Cycle Coventry” project, which delivered cycling infrastructure and initiatives to encourage cycling amongst commuters, university students and local communities. Coventry also benefited from £270,000 of DfT funding in 2015-16 to enable Virgin Trains to improve cycle facilities at Coventry railway station.

DfT has provided the following funding to local authorities in the West Midlands which has funded cycle networks and awareness raising initiatives:

Alongside this DfT provided a total of £1.224m in 2015-16 to improve cycle rail facilities at railway stations in the West Midlands region. There has also been funding for cycling and walking in the West Midlands over the last five years through Bikeability, the Local Growth Fund, Highways Maintenance Block and the Integrated Transport Block. Precise amounts spent on cycling and walking vary and will depend on decisions made by the relevant local authorities and other local bodies.