Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2024 to Questions 51723 and 51724 on Active Travel: Construction, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of using compulsory purchase orders to progress active travel routes; and if he will collate data on how many local authorities have used compulsory purchase orders for this purpose.

The Department currently has no plans to make an assessment of the effectiveness of compulsory purchase order powers in progressing active travel schemes or produce a centralised record of their use by local authorities.

Compulsory purchase for active travel has a high bar with a requirement for public authorities to demonstrate a compelling case in the public interest. An alternative approach to creating new active travel routes is public path creation under the Highways Act 1980, rather than outright purchase of the land through a compulsory acquistion. Active Travel England will set out further guidance on a range of approaches to establishing rural active travel routes in the Design Guidance that will be published later in the year.