Speeches

Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has put in place to fund walking and cycling infrastructure once the Local Sustainable Transport Fund ends in March 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department has a statutory obligation to deliver the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS). The Department has commenced the early first stages of work to develop the first CWIS by summer 2016 following a formal consultation in spring 2016. Detailed content of this Strategy is not yet available.

The Government recently reaffirmed its commitment to cycling and walking by investing over £300m during this Parliament. This includes delivering the Cycle City Ambition programme in full, and funding the Bikeability cycle training programme, which increases cycle proficiency amongst school children. It also includes a new ‘Access’ fund for sustainable travel building on the legacy of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. It is too early to say what the details of this new Access fund will be as discussions are ongoing, but information is expected to be available in the coming weeks.