Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a local authority that funds Active Travel investment from sources other than central government funding must carry out the work to the standards laid out in Local Transport Note 1/20 Cycling Infrastructure Design as if the funding had been provided by central government.

The Government is committed to increasing cycling and walking and making our roads safer for all vulnerable road users. This is vital if we are to realise the considerable health and environmental benefits of active travel. In April the Government updated its additional Network Management Duty guidance to local authorities setting out what it expects them to do in making changes to their road layouts to encourage walking and cycling.

However, the detailed design of cycle lanes is a matter for individual local traffic authorities. Design advice for cycling infrastructure, can be found in the non-statutory guidance document Local Transport Note 1/20 ‘Cycle Infrastructure Design’. Local authorities are free to make their own decisions about the streets under their care, provided they take account of the relevant legislation. They are responsible for ensuring that their actions are within the law and are accountable to local people for their decisions and their performance. Local councillors are responsible for ensuring that local decisions about street infrastructure take account of the needs and opinions of local people. If Her Majesty's Government are not involved with the funding, then the Department would continue to advise that LTN 1/20 guidance be consulted to ensure designs are of the utmost quality.

A key part of the Government’s strategy to increase levels of walking and cycling is setting up a new Executive Agency, Active Travel England (ATE). ATE will ensure the Government’s unprecedented £2 billion investment in active travel makes the biggest difference possible to the increasing number of people walking and cycling. ATE is currently working in shadow form and is developing toolkits for scheme designs.