Local Sustainable Transport Fund

Monday 14th July 2014 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond)]

My noble Friend the Minister for Transport, Baroness Kramer, has made the following ministerial statement:

I am today announcing the successful bids for the local sustainable transport fund 2015-16 revenue funding competition. Almost all eligible local authorities submitted a bid for funding, and 44 were successful. The successful schemes will deliver a range of sustainable transport interventions across England, including enhanced cycling and walking infrastructure, improved bus journeys and better transport interchanges. All bids needed to demonstrate how the proposed programme would deliver economic growth, benefit the environment, influence greater uptake of cycling and walking, improve health and create a more joined-up door-to-door journey for people.

The successful projects will share over £64 million in revenue funding. Each project has provided its own matched contribution; the overall total of this matched funding is over £375 million. This includes over £100 million sourced directly from the local growth fund. This means that for every £1 the Department for Transport will invest through the local sustainable transport fund in 2015-16, local authorities will contribute £5.80 over the six years to 2020-21.

Examples of some successful projects include:

Birmingham will be continuing their ambition to become a premier cycling city through an extension of their cycling ambition programme;

Devon’s successful Access 2 Education programme will be extended to continue their work encouraging students across the country to travel more sustainably to school and training;

Jobseekers in Tamworth will be supported to access employment through cycling training and improved transport interchanges; and

East Lancashire will benefit from a range of cycling improvements, including an enhanced strategic cycle network that will provide links between housing, employment and town centres.

The announcement contains a number of projects that will significantly support the Government’s “Moving More, Living More” campaign, which seeks to create a more active nation as part of the physical activity legacy to the Olympic and Paralympic games.

The full list of successful schemes has been published on the Department for Transport’s website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-sustainable-transport-fund.