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Written Question
Active Travel: Finance
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department plans to provide to local authorities for active travel plans in the (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 financial year.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport is currently providing £70 million of dedicated funding to local authorities in 2023-24, for developing and delivering local infrastructure schemes and to boost capability and enable higher levels of walking and cycling. Funding for local authorities in 2024-25 is subject to final Departmental business planning decisions.


Written Question
Bicycles: Portsmouth South
Friday 15th December 2023

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support young people purchase bicycles in Portsmouth South constituency.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Active Travel England is providing funding to local authorities through the Active Travel Capability Fund, which can be used for a range of initiatives to enable more people of all ages to walk, wheel and cycle, including access to cycles. Portsmouth City Council received £74,658 through this fund for 2022/23. Active Travel England also awarded Portsmouth City Council £653,580 of capital funding for the same period, which will be used to build, improve and maintain infrastructure to support walking, wheeling and cycling. The Government also supports affordable access to cycles through the Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme, which is also open to under 18-year-olds in employment (conditions apply).


Written Question
Department for Transport: Sustrans
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what work Sustrans has provided to his Department and its agencies in each of the last six years.

Answered by Jesse Norman

In each of the last six years, funding was provided to Sustrans as follows: £4.65m (2017/18), £26.2m (2018/19), £4.1m (2019/20), £19.4m (2020/21), and £49.5m (2021/22). No funding was provided in 2022/23.

In the last six years, Sustrans has managed four programmes of work for the Department for Transport and Active Travel England. £75m has been provided to upgrade the National Cycle Network. £9.8m has been provided under the Cycle Rail programme for cycle racks, cycle security measures and links to railway stations. £6.3m has been provided under the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Planning (LCWIP) programme to help local authorities to develop LCWIPs, including training and evidence collection. £13m has been provided for cycling and walking paths around the route of HS2.


Written Question
Sustrans: Finance
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has provided to Sustrans in each of the last six years.

Answered by Jesse Norman

In each of the last six years, funding was provided to Sustrans as follows: £4.65m (2017/18), £26.2m (2018/19), £4.1m (2019/20), £19.4m (2020/21), and £49.5m (2021/22). No funding was provided in 2022/23.

In the last six years, Sustrans has managed four programmes of work for the Department for Transport and Active Travel England. £75m has been provided to upgrade the National Cycle Network. £9.8m has been provided under the Cycle Rail programme for cycle racks, cycle security measures and links to railway stations. £6.3m has been provided under the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Planning (LCWIP) programme to help local authorities to develop LCWIPs, including training and evidence collection. £13m has been provided for cycling and walking paths around the route of HS2.


Written Question
Active Travel: Disability
Thursday 3rd August 2023

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he made of the potential merits of active travel for wheelchair users; and if his Department will provide funding to Active Travel England for initiatives to help improve the physical and mental health of wheelchair users.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

The Department for Transport (DfT) leads in Government on active travel, working with and through Active Travel England. Active travel comprises walking, wheeling, and cycling. Increased physical activity, including through active travel, can have significant health benefits. DfT published its Inclusive Transport Strategy in 2020. This strategy will help ensure that disabled people are able to move around freely through the pedestrian environment and use it to access other modes of transport. If using a cycle, whether as a mobility aid or not, they will be able to use inclusive cycle infrastructure to support their journey. We have made no specific assessment of the potential merits of active travel for wheelchair users.


Written Question
Cycling and Walking
Monday 24th July 2023

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to funding levels for cycling and walking infrastructure on the UK's ability to meet its emissions targets.

Answered by Jesse Norman

This Government has done more than any other to support walking and cycling and over the course of this Parliament it will be investing around £3 billion in active travel from a wide range of funding streams.

The Government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan sets out the projected emission savings from transport policies. The Department will continue to monitor the contributions made by its investment in active travel. As captured in the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, the carbon savings from active travel make up a relatively small percentage of the total projected carbon savings. The impact of recent active travel funding changes on the ability of the Government to meet its overall emission targets is therefore likely to be small.


Written Question
Cycling and Walking
Monday 24th July 2023

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to funding levels for cycling and walking infrastructure on local authority plans to create safe spaces for active travel.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Government remains fully committed to the vision that by 2030 half of all journeys in towns and cities are walked or cycled and it will invest over £3 billion in active travel over the course of this Parliament. The £3 billion also includes funding from wider sources such as the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and the Levelling Up Fund. Active Travel England estimates that its dedicated investment programme between 2022/23 and 2024/25 will deliver 90 million additional walking and cycling stages by 2025.


Written Question
Cycling and Walking
Monday 24th July 2023

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to (a) encourage active travel and (b) increase safety for (i) cyclists and (ii) pedestrians in cities.

Answered by Jesse Norman

This Government has done more than any other to support active travel, and over the course of this Parliament it will be investing around £3 billion to boost walking, cycling and wheeling across England. Active Travel England is working with local authorities to ensure that this funding delivers safe and high-quality infrastructure. This, coupled with other initiatives including the recent changes to The Highway Code, will make the roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians.


Written Question
Health: Disadvantaged
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support local planning authorities to help tackle regional health inequalities through (a) active travel facilities, (b) access to healthcare and (c) other infrastructure.

Answered by Rachel Maclean

Tackling health disparities is at the heart of the Government's ambitions for Levelling Up. Through the Levelling Up White Paper, we have set out our mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy between areas.

The National Planning Policy Framework expects local planning authorities to set out a strategy for the provision of sufficient infrastructure which includes community facilities such as hospitals and doctor's surgeries. Planning policies and decisions should plan positively for these, taking into account and supporting the delivery of local strategies to improve health and well-being for all of the community.

With regards to transport the Framework is clear that this is matter that should be considered from the earliest stages of plan-making and development proposals, thereby enabling opportunities to promote walking and cycling to be identified and pursued, including supporting facilities.


Written Question
Transport: Infrastructure
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that sustainable transport planning is a priority in building transport infrastructure on new development sites.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that transport issues, including opportunities to promote walking, cycling and public transport, should be considered from the earliest stages of plan-making and when considering development proposals.

As committed in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, the Government is embedding transport decarbonisation principles in spatial planning and across transport policymaking to ensure that new development is designed in a way that promotes sustainable travel choices. This year, Active Travel England has been established as a statutory consultee in the planning system and will help planning authorities in their work to implement good active travel design. Additionally, the Government is taking forward updates to the Manual for Streets guidance to encourage a more holistic approach to street design which assigns higher priority to the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.