Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Accepted
DfT and ATE are working to standardise active travel benefits evaluation framework
Conclusion
DfT estimates that for every £1 invested in active travel, government will achieve around £4.30 in benefits. We therefore asked DfT about the benefits of active travel. DfT told us that active travel had many different benefits, including for health, air quality, decarbonisation. It explained that most of the benefits were found in health, including 21 Qq 11-12 22 C&AG’s Report, para 2.2 and 2.5 23 C&AG’s Report, para 2.8 24 Q 31 25 C&AG’s Report, paras 15, 21 26 Q 47 27 Q 52 28 Qq 48-49; C&AG’s Report, para 3.5 29 Q 48; Letter from Dame Bernadette Kelly DCB, Permanent Secretary for Transport, to Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair Public Accounts Committee in relation to Active Travel in England, 1 August 2023 Active travel in England 13 reduced incidence of heart attack which it measured.30 DfT told us that it had conducted an evaluation of the Cycle City Ambition Fund, which showed that while infrastructure had increased cycling by about 40%, it can take between three to five years for a piece of new infrastructure to have a maximum impact on behaviours and active travel participation.31 DfT recognised that it was “actually measuring quite a limited number of benefits in a qualitative sense” and ATE explained that the data available was inconsistent. It said that it was working to establish a common framework for assessing the benefits of active travel, while minimising the burden on local authorities of collating this data. We were pleased to hear that ATE intended to standardise the approach to evaluation and simplify the process for local authorities. We asked DfT when its plans for evaluating the impact of spend on active travel would be in place, and why it had taken setting up a new body in ATE to make progress. DfT told us that the establishment of ATE provided “five times the people capacity” that DfT previously had working on active travel.32 ATE told us that it will have 18 staff on its analysis and evaluation team and was working with the Alan Turing Institute
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the recommendation, noting it has commissioned research to accurately measure funding allocation and impact for active travel interventions from 2016 to 2025. This research, covering various funding streams, is expected to conclude in April 2024.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3.5 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.6 As set out in the department’s response to recommendation 2a, it has commissioned research to more accurately measure how much funding has been allocated to active travel interventions over the first and second statutory cycling and walking investment strategies (CWIS 1 and CWIS 2) covering the period 2016 to 2025. This is in respect of funding managed by the department, as well as cross-government funding such as the Levelling Up Fund. In addition, and where the funding body has maintained appropriate records, the research will also set out the impact of the funding against the projected outputs from each funding stream. This research is expected to conclude in April 2024.