Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by Sustrans Children's Walking and Cycling Index 2024, published 26 February, what steps they are taking to address the gender divide in children cycling.

The Government agrees that it is important to include a wide-range of groups in the policy making process, including children. On 12 February, Active Travel England published guidance to help councils engage with local communities in the development of new walking and cycling schemes. This includes reference to engaging with children in the design process of active travel schemes near schools.

Active Travel England supports a range of programmes to help enable more active travel for children, including Living Street’s Walk to School Outreach, Modeshift STARS and Bikeability cycle training.

The Government understands that perceived safety can be a barrier to more people choosing to walk, wheel or cycle. This is why the Department has recently announced almost £300 million of funding for active travel in 2024/5 and 2025/6. The Department has also published guidance for local authorities on implementing School Streets, which help improve the safety of roads outside schools for cycling.