Walking, Wheeling and Cycling Paths

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Monday 1st December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

All too frequently, the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, wants to answer the questions for me; she is very welcome to. The question about permitted development rights is, I think, a blind alley, but I will take some advice and write to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, about it. What we are talking about is making this easy and economical to do. My Answer demonstrated that the Government are putting money into this activity for local transport authorities and giving them the opportunity to develop their plans. I will take some advice to see whether the noble Baroness’s suggestion is something that I should write to her about.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, it is the turn of the Cross Benches.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right that currently there are no targets, but the consultation on the third cycling and walking investment strategy, which started on 3 November and runs till 15 December, is wide-ranging and will inform the next strategy, which runs from 2025 to 2030. As part of that, we will consider what targets need to be established, for precisely the reason that she gives.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, are there any plans to increase the number of bridle paths as well? The roads are becoming ever more dangerous for horse riders—and I declare my interest as a horse rider.

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

I believe that the responsibility of local highway authorities, so long as the bridle path is a public right of way, means that, as I said in my supplementary answer, they are required to keep a rights of way improvement plan. There is a responsibility on local highway authorities to consider the proper establishment of bridle paths. As I have said before, the Government announced their intention to remove the present 2031 cut-off date for recording unregistered historic rights of way, so I advise the noble Baroness that, if she knows of ones that are well used but not registered as rights of way, now is the time to put that right.

Pedal Cycles

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Thursday 12th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Hogan-Howe, on securing this debate. It is indeed telling that a former Met Police commissioner has chosen to raise this important issue. I speak as someone who is a pedestrian and a car driver who has dogs and rides horses, but others in my family are very keen cyclists. I know that there are many noble Lords who cycle and, I am sure, who do so safely. While we can all acknowledge the health and climate benefits of cycling, the present situation with bicycles has become a serious hazard for pedestrians and other road users.

I should perhaps start by declaring an interest: I was knocked over by a cyclist while on the pedestrian crossing outside Parliament in 2019, when I had the right of way. It was by an eminent lawyer who did not apologise and did not even ask whether I was okay. The police would do nothing about it. Also, an elderly friend of mine was knocked over by a Deliveroo cyclist at a crossing and ended up injured in hospital for several weeks. The bicyclist gave a false telephone number and could not be traced. I am afraid that I do not subscribe to the argument put forward by Cycling UK that, because more people are injured by cars, we should not be concerned about holding cyclists to account. We need to address causes of injury however they occur.

Despite the words of Queen’s bicycle song,

“I want to ride it where I like”,


it is important that whoever uses the roads does so with care and consideration towards other road users. If anyone is in doubt about whether many cyclists flout the law, just go and stand by the crossing outside the Lords: cyclists not wanting to slow down or unclip their feet, jumping the lights with impunity. Last December, at a junction of High Street Kensington and Earls Court Road, over 50 cyclists were caught in just a three-hour window. The problem is not just ignoring red lights; it is not giving way to pedestrian crossings, going up on the pavement, squeezing through gaps, and undertaking, to name a few. It shows the darker side of Mario Cipollini’s oft-misused cycling quotation:

“If you brake, you don’t win”.


Such is the aggressive approach that has crept in with some that I know cycle users who will not go in the cycle lanes because they suffer such abuse if they do not go fast enough.

Respect needs to be observed for other road users. No car driver wants to hit a bicyclist; the mental health repercussions for them would be absolutely terrible. So often, however, bicyclists just stick their arms out and ride across cars without ever looking or observing the Highway Code. Those who regularly flout the law are more likely to cause accidents. Surely cyclists should have to obey the rules of the road like everyone else and, where they do not, they should be held to account. Yet in 2023 only 39 people were convicted for careless or inconsiderate cycling.

There is, of course, no mandatory training and testing for bicyclists, but ignorance of the law of the road is not a defence. I welcome initiatives such as the Bikeability Trust, the DfT’s national schoolchildren cycling programme, which has helped about 4 million children get on bikes since its inception. Safe cycling has enormous benefits for everyone.

It is not just in towns and cities where there is a problem from cyclists. On A roads and country lanes there can be cyclists, sometimes in clumps holding up all the traffic—are they not meant to pull over? While I know that we are primarily addressing cycles on the roads today, there is also a huge issue with off-road cyclists who are dangerous to walkers, dogs and horses. Last weekend, I went to walk in Surrey on common land where I have been walking all my life; I used to ride down there too. I must have seen over 40 off-road bikes, but I saw hardly any other dog walkers and no horses. I have since been told that no horse rider can now go out there at the weekend, except terribly early in the morning, and hardly anyone walks their dogs, because it is simply too dangerous. The cyclists go at a rate of knots, do not give way to anybody and many are very inconsiderate. It just is not right that these off-road bicyclists should be able to drive away other people who want to enjoy the countryside. Perhaps the Minister could address this aspect too.

I very much support the idea of registration for bikes. It would enable the regulations to be more easily implemented and cyclists who offend to be identified. It would probably be a deterrent to bike theft as well. I do not accept the argument that there are too many to do so—we manage to get everyone to pay tax and we get cars licensed, so why not bikes?

There is no doubt that there is a real problem. I hope that the Government will commit to taking action after today’s debate.