Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that people with disabilities are able to access modes of active travel which aid (a) mobility and (b) independence.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy sets out both a vision and specific objectives to increase levels of walking, wheeling and cycling. The Government is providing around £3 billion of funding for active travel over the current Parliament, as well as guidance for local transport authorities to support the creation of accessible infrastructure. The guidance and funding prioritise road safety and personal safety concerns, particularly for those with protected characteristics, including people with disabilities.
Asked by: Selaine Saxby (Conservative - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department plans to provide to active travel in (a) 2023-2024 and (b) 2024-2025 in (i) dedicated and (ii) general spending.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government expects to invest a total of around £3 billion in active travel from 2020 to 2025. This includes at least £100 million of dedicated capital funding over the two-year period 2023/24 to 2024/25 for active travel infrastructure. In addition to this, the Department will confirm the revenue funding for active travel for 2023/24 and 2024/25 shortly. As outlined in the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2) there are a wide range of cross-Government funding streams supporting the delivery of active travel infrastructure. These funds include the Levelling Up Fund, Towns Fund, City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and National Highways Designated Funds.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help promote wheeling for people with disabilities.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy sets out both a vision and specific objectives to increase levels of walking, wheeling and cycling. The Government is providing around £3 billion of funding for active travel over the current Parliament, as well as guidance for local transport authorities to support the creation of accessible infrastructure. The guidance and funding prioritise road safety and personal safety concerns, particularly for those with protected characteristics, including people with disabilities.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what financial steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help more people to (a) walk, (b) wheel and (c) cycle in (i) 2023-24 and (ii) 2024-25.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government expects to invest a total of around £3 billion in active travel from 2020 to 2025. This includes at least £100 million of dedicated capital funding over the two-year period 2023/24 to 2024/25 for active travel infrastructure. In addition to this, the Department will confirm the revenue funding for active travel for 2023/24 and 2024/25 shortly, which pays for programmes including the Bikeability training programme. As outlined in the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2), there are a range of cross-Government funding streams supporting the delivery of active travel infrastructure. These funds include the Levelling Up Fund, Towns Fund, City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and National Highways Designated Funds.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department held consultations on changes to the Second Walking and Cycling Investment Strategy.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department did not consult on this. The change was a factual correction to a number in a funding table and did not represent a change of policy or substance. The Department will consult in due course on the third statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3), as required by the Infrastructure Act 2015.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the ways in which the (a) walking and (b) cycling requirements of rural communities differ from those of major urban centres; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of producing a revised version of existing guidance on cycle infrastructure design (LTN 1/20) on the ability of rural authorities including Worcestershire County Council to take steps to promote a modal shift to walking and cycling in their areas.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department has established Active Travel England (ATE) to help local authorities to develop appropriate walking, wheeling and cycling schemes, and to use Departmental guidance such as the ‘Manual for Streets’ and ‘LTN 1/20 Cycle Infrastructure Design’.
ATE plans to develop specific additional guidance for rural settings by the end of the year. Officials of Active Travel England have recently met with officials at Worcestershire County Council to help them to support local priorities.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his Written Statement entitled Transport Update published on 9 March, what assessment his Department has made on the potential impact of cuts to active travel funding on the Government's target for half of journeys to be walked or cycled by 2030.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The total amount of funding needed to achieve the Government’s target for half of all journeys in towns and cities to be walked or cycled by 2030 depends on a wide range of factors. Since the first-ever statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS1) in 2017, the Government has made a great deal progress. Over the course of this Parliament, the Department expects over £3 billion to be invested in delivering safe and accessible walking and cycling infrastructure and providing training that gives people the skills and confidence to walk and cycle more as part of their everyday journeys.
An assessment of the extent to which the Government is on track to meet the 2030 target will be made as part of the development of the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3) in due course.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has taken recent steps with the Secretary of State for Education to help improve (a) cycling and (b) walking infrastructure outside schools.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department for Transport has provided almost £400 million to local authorities since 2020/21 to improve active travel infrastructure, including outside schools. Active Travel England has recently announced a further £200 million of funding for local authorities and has encouraged bids that would enable more children to walk and cycle to school.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 140382 on Travel: Finance, what the (a) actual and (b) predicted (i) capital and (ii) revenue funding was for active travel in each financial financial year between 2020-21 and 2024-25; and what the purpose is of each budget line.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Year | Capital (£ million) | Revenue (£ million) |
2020-21 | 192 | 115 |
2021-22 | 209 | 70 |
2022-23 | 200 (predicted) | 69 (actual) 2 (predicted) |
The table above outlines actual dedicated funding for active travel for the period 2020/21 to 2022/23 unless indicated as predicted funding. These figures do not include funding from wider sources within the Department such as the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS). The Autumn Statement of 17 November confirmed the Department for Transport’s overall funding levels for 2023-24 and 2024-25. The Department is currently considering the budget for active travel as part of its examination of all future spending plans following that Statement.
Capital funding typically funds walking and cycling infrastructure programmes such as the Active Travel Fund. Revenue funding supports a range of programmes to enable more people to walk, wheel and cycle including the Capability Fund and Bikeability.
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 make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of increasing Government investment in the (a) cycling and (b) e-bike manufacturing sector.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is committed to continuing to support our thriving cycling and e-bike sector. The Government provides indirect support to the sector through investment in cycling and walking infrastructure and through the Cycle to Work scheme. The Department has committed over £500m on dedicated active travel initiatives over the period of 2021/22 to 2022/23. The Department also provides funding for innovation in the transport sector through Transport Research and Innovation Grants.