Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to collect data from local authorities on the condition of cycleways and footpaths; whether they intend to allocate funding for maintenance; and what assessment they have made of the impact that this would have on active travel.

There is currently no agreed standard for monitoring the condition of cycleways and footways. Local authorities are required to report on carriageway surface condition under the Ministry for Housing and Local Government’s single data list, but not on the condition of cycleways and footways. Active Travel England is currently undertaking a pilot project to assess the condition of cycleways and footways in England.

The Department allocates highways maintenance funding to local highway authorities using a formula which is based on factors such as road length. It is up to local authorities to decide how best to spend this funding to fulfil their statutory duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980. In doing this, they should consider all parts of the highway network, including cycleways and footways. The Government takes the condition of local roads very seriously and is committed to maintaining and renewing the local road network. To this end, the Government will provide authorities with funding to help them fix a million more potholes across England per year.