Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to increase the number of children walking to school once the Local Sustainable Transport Fund ends.

My Department has launched a £20 million Sustainable Travel Transition Year Fund revenue competition for 2016/17, which local authorities are invited to bid for. This provides an opportunity to fund initiatives that support children walking to school. Information about bidding can be found on the DfT website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-travel-transition-year-revenue-competition-2016-to-2017

From 2017/18 the new Access fund will provide another opportunity for local investment in walking to schools; £500 million of capital funding will be made available for this as part of the Local Growth Fund with a further £60 million of revenue funding to be made available by my Department.

This Government has introduced a requirement to set a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, which will be published in 2016.