Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 22
22
Paragraph: 103
We are pleased the Government has promised to empower local authorities to take bold decisions...
Recommendation
We are pleased the Government has promised to empower local authorities to take bold decisions in this area and to publish a toolkit of guidance and information to help local authorities develop innovative and sustainable transport policies. We also welcome its commitment to investing £2 billion over five years in active travel, most of which will be channelled through local authorities, but we are concerned that this might not be enough. Funding should be more consistent and reliable and not dependent on competitive bidding processes, which tend to benefit the larger and better resourced councils and lead to wasted resources on unsuccessful bids. We recommend that funding for active travel be put on a more consistent footing and that the Government work more closely with local authorities to support and monitor their activities.
Paragraph Reference:
103
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
In Summer 2020, the Prime Minister launched ambitious plans to boost walking and cycling in England, with a vision for half of all journeys in towns and cities to be cycled or walked by 2030. The commitment was backed with £2 billion of investment over five years. This was followed by the publication of ‘Gear Change: One Year On’, which increased funding to £338 million this financial year. £710 million of new dedicated funding for cycling and walking was announced by the Chancellor in his Budget statement over the Spending Review 2021 period, which, when taking other funding streams into account, delivers the £2 billion of funding for cycling and walking over this Parliament promised by the Government. £239 million has been made available to local authorities for capital infrastructure schemes this financial year. This will enable local authorities to deliver safe and direct cycling and walking measures in their areas, such as protected space for cycling, widened pavements, and safer junctions. The Government intends to publish the second 4-year statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS 2) in Spring 2022, which will outline future funding for walking and cycling beyond 2021 to 2022.