School Journeys by Car

Lord Cormack Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[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.

[Lord Cormack (Con)]

My Lords, will my noble friend tell me how many academies have a walking and cycling strategy?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I would love to. I do not have the exact figures to hand, but I can tell my noble friend that in some areas, for instance in Darlington, local authorities are working very closely with academies and free schools to develop transport plans. In fact, free schools are offering an option for parents to help to create new schools in areas where they have not had a local school. For instance, the Ongar Academy was set up in that town, which has not had a secondary school since 1989. Parents and teachers came together because they did not want children bussed out to other towns. We have seen the same in Ingleby Barwick’s Ingleby Manor academy as well. In their own way, free schools are helping to address this issue.