Seventy-Fifth Report - Active travel in England

Local authorities are being held back from delivering successful active travel interventions by the considerable uncertainty in the funding available for schemes. Since 2016, funding for active travel has been provided to local authorities through more than 36 active travel … Read more Local authorities are being held back from delivering successful active travel interventions by the considerable uncertainty in the funding available for schemes. Since 2016, funding for active travel has been provided to local authorities through more than 36 active travel related funding streams. Local authorities must apply to multiple funding streams separately and each will have different bid requirements and timetables, often with very short deadlines for submissions and even shorter deadlines for delivering a scheme once funding is provided. Funding is often available in the short-term or provided annually, rather than through multi- year settlements and this instability is not conducive to delivering large or innovative schemes that would have a significant impact on active travel rates. Authorities that either lack the resource or experience to construct bids are placed at a disadvantage and the burden of applying for multiple fundings streams or at short notice can be exacerbated for smaller authorities. DfT recognises the need for fewer, more coherent funding schemes. Recommendation 6: DfT, working with other departments including HM Treasury, should set out in the next six months how and when local authorities will be provided with greater certainty about the funding available for active travel to enable them to invest in and deliver long-term, ambitious active travel interventions. This work should include an examination of whether the number of grant schemes available for active travel can be reduced or simplified. Show less

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The NAO’s analysis identified that there had been 36 different central government funds for active travel since 2016, some of which had multiple funding rounds. These funds often had different conditions and bidding requirements which local authorities must navigate to … Read more The NAO’s analysis identified that there had been 36 different central government funds for active travel since 2016, some of which had multiple funding rounds. These funds often had different conditions and bidding requirements which local authorities must navigate to access funding for their active travel schemes. They also often had short deadlines for submissions and for delivering a scheme once funding is provided.57 We received written evidence from Leicester City Council which set out that the competitive nature of funds meant that local authorities must bid to secure as much funding as possible within a given window. It told us that local authorities that either lacked the resource or experience to construct bids were placed at a disadvantage, and that smaller authorities may lack the resource required to formulate competitive bids.58 In addition, it told us that developing bids is time-intensive, which was often compounded by very short bidding windows. Leicester City Council gave the example of Tranche Four of the Active Travel Fund which it said authorities were notified of on 1 January 2023 with a deadline for submitting bids for funding of 24 February 2023.59 We have therefore recommended that DfT, along with other departments, examine whether the number of grant schemes and their requirements can be simplified to encourage more local authorities to bid for them. Show less

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DfT set out its most recent objectives for active travel in 2022. These are to: • increase the percentage of short journeys in towns and cities that are walked or cycled from 41% in 2019 to 46% in 2025; • increase people’s annual walking activity to 365 stages per person …

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In June 2023, the NAO found that the latest data showed little progress had been made against the targets set by DfT. In 2021, DfT was close to only one of its targets – to increase the percentage of short journeys in towns and cities that are walked or cycled, …

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In March 2023 in response to significant inflationary pressure, DfT announced changes to various transport investment plans. This included a £233 million reduction in its dedicated funding for active travel up to April 2025.19 We received written evidence from the Walking and Cycling Alliance, Sustrans, and Local Government Association setting …

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We also asked DfT about progress in delivering the Gear Change programme. The NAO found that DfT made progress against most (22 out of 33) Gear Change actions, with most progress made on measures targeting capability, including the formation of ATE. Less progress was made on actions around integration, partly …

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In 2018, as part of our examination of the financial sustainability of local authorities, we said that good financial planning within local authorities relied on certainty and stability of funds, while financial uncertainty created risks to value for money.55 Active travel investment has not escaped funding-related issues, which the NAO …

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The short-term nature of funding for active travel is also problematic and this was a recurrent theme in the submissions that we received from stakeholders.60 The Local Government Association told us that “uncertainty over the level or duration of funding 54 Qq 32, 61, 70, 75; C&AG’s Report, para 3.15 …

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