School Journeys by Car

Lord Watson of Invergowrie Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Lab)]

My Lords, more than 70% of parents walked to school when they were children, but now fewer than 50% of children walk to school on a daily basis. Will the Minister say what recommendation she will feed into the spending review to ensure that there are adequate resources for the Government’s cycling and walking investment strategy, so as to encourage more children to walk to school?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I welcome the noble Lord to his position. I assure him that we are focusing on this. In fact, the number of children in England who now walk to school is at a high level—it has risen over the last three years. As I said, a number of government schemes are available to help local authorities. It is also worth remembering that over the last three years local authorities have spent around £1 billion on transport in this area. It is something that they take seriously, despite facing a difficult economic climate.