Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her Department's policy position is on 15 minute cities.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local Government is at the heart of our transport ambitions. Traffic management schemes to promote walking cycling and public transport are a matter for Local Authorities because they know their areas best. Such schemes should always be developed through engagement with local communities. This is a long-standing policy and there are no plans to change it.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of steps to help reduce fatality rates of cyclists on rural roads in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has not made an assessment of steps to help reduce fatality rates of cyclists on rural roads in West Dorset constituency.
Dorset Unitary Authority has been awarded £774,233 in revenue and capital funding from the Consolidated Active Travel Fund. It will be for the local authority to allocate this funding in line with local investment priorities, such as improving safety for cyclists in West Dorset.
We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Department is developing our Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what long-term funding her Department has allocated to facilitate (a) cycling and (b) walking in Eastbourne constituency.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 12 February, the Department and Active Travel England announced local authority allocations of the Consolidated Active Travel Fund. Of this funding, East Sussex County Council has been awarded £1,110,557 in revenue funding for 2024/25 and capital funding for 2025/26. It will be for East Sussex County Council to allocate this funding in line with local investment priorities, including to support schemes in the Eastbourne constituency.
The Spending Review announced £616 million for active travel infrastructure from 2026-27 to 2029-30, Active Travel England will set out future allocations from this funding in due course.
The Government also announced a further £2.3 billion to local authorities through the Local Transport Grant (LTG). This funding will support local authorities to invest in their local transport priorities, including schemes to support walking and cycling. East Sussex County Council has been awarded over £22 million up to 2029/30 through the LTG.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of fatal cycling accidents on rural roads in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 12 February, the Department and Active Travel England announced local authority allocations of the Consolidated Active Travel Fund. Of this funding, Dorset Unitary Authority has been awarded £774,233 in revenue and capital funding. It will be for the local authority to allocate this funding in line with local investment priorities, such as improving safety for cyclists in West Dorset.
The Government is committed to improving the safety of all road users, especially the most vulnerable such as pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists. This is a key priority for the Department which was reflected in the updated Highway Code in January 2022, with the implementation of a Hierarchy of Road Users.
We are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. The Department is developing our Road Safety Strategy and will set out more details in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to enforce the ban on the sale and use of illegally modified e-bikes, referred to as "fake e-bikes" in the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking, Unregulated and Unsafe: The Threat of Illegal E-Bikes, published on 16 June.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I thank the APPG for their report into this important topic, on which there is cross-Government work to tackle the issues raised and make sure e-bikes are safe to buy and use. Our product safety framework makes clear that consumer products can only be placed on the UK market if they are safe and comply with relevant laws. Businesses, including those modifying or servicing electric bikes, have responsibilities for the safety of those products. The Office for Product Safety and Standards and local authorities enforce the regulations.
E-bikes used illegally on public land is an enforcement matter for the police.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of delivery drivers using e-bikes on other road users.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Only e-bikes that are fully compliant with the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983 are legal to use on the roads.
I have previously written to the Chief Executives of food delivery companies, making clear that riders should be fully aware of the relevant legal requirements and that they should only be using safe and road legal e-bikes. This is in addition to guidance on safe use of e-bikes that has been published by the Government, most recently by the Department and Business Trade in their “Buy Safe, Be Safe” campaign.
Furthermore, the Government has tabled amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill to introduce new cycling offences. These new offices will tackle instances where victims have been killed or seriously injured by irresponsible cycle behaviour. These new offences will also ensure parity across the “motoring” offences framework. This is so that all road users, whether they are drivers or cyclists, whose behaviour results in the death or serious injury of another road user, will face the same penalties.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to help increase prosecutions of cyclists who jump red traffic lights.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Enforcement of traffic offences of this sort is a matter for the police. Those who cycle have a duty, like all road users, to behave in a safe and responsible manner and to follow the rules set out in The Highway Code.
It is already an offence for cyclists to cycle without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other road users.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to encourage people who do not regularly exercise to become more active through the Active Travel Fund.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In February, the Department and ATE announced £8.5 million of funding over 25/26 for Cycling UK, Living Streets and Modeshift to deliver walking, wheeling and cycling initiatives in schools and communities, including a focus on less physically active groups. In addition, ATE has allocated £40.5 million in revenue funding over 25/26 for local authorities through the Consolidated Active Travel Fund. This funding can be used by local authorities to deliver outreach schemes and complements Bikeability funding for school children and Active Travel Social Prescribing Pilots underway in some authorities.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to measure the potential impact of active travel funding on the number and proportion of trips (a) walked, (b) wheeled and (c) cycled.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport and Active Travel England have developed a number of tools that measure the potential impact on numbers and proportions of people walking and cycling of active travel investment. This includes tools to enable local authorities to estimate increases in walking and cycling and the associated cost-benefit case for individual active travel schemes and the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS) Model.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the funding allocated in the Spending Review 2025 will be spent on (a) public transport and (b) bus services in (i) the North West and (ii) Preston.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The North-West of England will benefit significantly from increased government investment to improve local public transport. Some larger city regions in the North-West will receive long-term funding through the Transport for City Regions (TCR) programme, with a total of over £4 billion allocated for the period 2027/28 to 2031/32. This funding will help local leaders deliver better bus, rail, cycling and walking networks with greater certainty and flexibility. For areas in the North-West not receiving TCR settlements, the Local Transport Grant (LTG) will provide over £413 million from 2026/27 to 2029/30 in simplified, consolidated funding to support improvements in local priorities such as zero-emission buses, public transport upgrades, and safer, more accessible streets. Together, these investments will make everyday journeys quicker, greener, and more reliable across the region.
The Lancashire Combined County Authority is set to receive a £215 million capital allocation through the Local Transport Grant. As a major town within this area, Preston will benefit from the funding through improvements to local transport infrastructure.
At the 2025 Spending Review, the Government also announced a major long-term investment in bus services, committing around £900 million of resource funding each year to maintain and improve services and to extend the £3 fare cap until March 2027. Including capital investment, this represents over £1 billion a year in total support for the bus sector. Individual allocations for the North-West have not yet been confirmed, as the Department for Transport is still carrying out internal business planning. However, this guaranteed funding will support and improve bus services for passengers across the region, helping to grow the economy, boost household incomes and improve access to opportunity.