Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to increase the number of cycle routes in Slough.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government remains committed to the vision that by 2030 half of all journeys in towns and cities are walked or cycled. Over £11 million has been provided to Slough Borough Council to construct new cycling and walking routes through the Active Travel Fund since 2020.
Active travel capital grant funding is awarded to authorities on the understanding that scheme designs will be appropriately reviewed and inspected by Active Travel England (ATE). Authorities are required to work with ATE to resolve any critical safety issues that are identified. Future funding may be reduced if an authority fails to rectify identified design issues.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase safety for (a) cyclists and (b) pedestrians in towns and cities.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has created a new agency, Active Travel England (ATE), to improve the safety, accessibility and quality of walking and cycling schemes. ATE reviews proposed schemes to ensure they comply with good practice design guidance. The Government is providing over £3 billion of funding to local authorities up to 2025 to increase walking, wheeling and cycling in towns and cities in England. In January 2022, the Government also updated The Highway Code to improve road safety for people walking, cycling and riding horses.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support young people purchase bicycles in Portsmouth South constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Active Travel England is providing funding to local authorities through the Active Travel Capability Fund, which can be used for a range of initiatives to enable more people of all ages to walk, wheel and cycle, including access to cycles. Portsmouth City Council received £74,658 through this fund for 2022/23. Active Travel England also awarded Portsmouth City Council £653,580 of capital funding for the same period, which will be used to build, improve and maintain infrastructure to support walking, wheeling and cycling. The Government also supports affordable access to cycles through the Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme, which is also open to under 18-year-olds in employment (conditions apply).
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve transport for young people in Portsmouth South constituency.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My department has provided financial support for Portsmouth City Council to deliver a number of transport schemes that everyone in the community can benefit from. These include:
The £2 bus fare cap benefits all bus passengers throughout the country.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the role of the National Cycle Network in providing access to nature.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of walking, cycling and other forms of sustainable transport in accessing nature.
We are working to ensure that consideration of access to nature is integrated with our work on active travel and the Government is fully committed to the ambitious vision that by 2030, half of all journeys in towns and cities are walked or cycled.
The National Cycle Network provides 12,000 miles of signed routes for walking, wheeling and cycling which includes over 5,000 miles of traffic-free paths.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report by Sustrans, entitled Disabled Citizens' Inquiry: Giving disabled people a voice in walking and wheeling policy and practice, published 8 February 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Active Travel England is working with local authorities and disabled people’s organisations to improve opportunities for walking, wheeling and cycling for all. An accessible and inclusive transport system is a priority for the Department for Transport, and integral to its objective of improving transport for the user.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will have discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of funding technology to (a) prevent cycle thefts and (b) enable secure tracking systems on bicycles and e-bikes.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government encourages the use of innovative new technology to prevent theft and trace stolen items.
In 2020 the Government published Gear Change – a bold vision for cycling and walking. Theme 4 of Gear Change includes various initiatives to reduce cycle theft. The Department for Transport and Active Travel England are working with the police-led National Cycle Crime Group to support regional cycle crime enforcement partnerships and raise awareness of better ways to secure cycles.
Cycle Crime Reduction Partnerships have been set up across the country to coordinate regional enforcement activity to disrupt organised cycle theft.
The Home Office has established an expert Stolen Goods Working Group with the police and academia to tackle the markets for stolen goods. The group is working to identify where and how stolen goods are commonly sold; examining ways to ensure property is secure, identifiable and traceable through property marking, and exploring ways to increase enforcement and share best practice between forces.
Crime survey of England & Wales for year ending June 2023 shows that bicycle theft since March 2010 has reduced by 54%.
There are currently no plans for the Home Office to provide any further funding for technology to tackle cycle theft.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to implement the recommendation of the APPG on Cycling and Walking in its report entitled Road justice, published in September 2023, on making exceptional hardship grounds available only on appeal in the Crown Court.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government does not have any plans to make any changes to the application of exceptional hardship.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department has allocated to Active Travel in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Active Travel England is an England only organisation. The Department for Transport has allocated a total of £112 million to Active Travel England in the 2023-24 financial year, comprising £54 million of capital and £58 million of revenue funding.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of active travel funding on (a) the number of journeys undertaken (i) on foot or (ii) by bike, (b) air quality in towns and cities, (c) overall carbon emissions and (d) the transition to net-zero.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government has done more than any other to support walking and cycling and over the course of this Parliament will be investing over £3 billion in active travel from a wide range of funding streams. The Government’s most recent assessment of progress towards meeting its active travel goals was set out in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy report to Parliament in July 2022. The Department will provide an updated assessment in its next report to Parliament in due course which will be published alongside the third statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3).
The carbon savings from active travel make up a relatively small percentage of the total projected carbon savings outlined in the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan. As such, the impact of changes to active travel funding on the ability of the government to meet its overall climate change targets is likely to be small. We will continue to monitor progress, and will adapt and take further action if needed to decarbonise transport in line with our carbon budgets and 2050 net zero target.
Active travel schemes can also play an important role in improving air quality, but this will vary from one area to another and the impacts will also depend on the extent to which active travel journeys replace journeys made by other modes, particularly the private car.