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[press release[
The Government today announced the abolition of Cycling England which is expected to take effect from the end of March 2011. The implications of this decision for the future of cycling were outlined by the governing Board]
[Critically the decision to abolish Cycling England threatens the future of National Cycling Proficiency training, Bikeability. This scheme currently receives £12 million p.a. through Cycling England from the Department for Transport. Over 90% of all local authorities are involved in and benefitting from the programme, as are over 50% of all School Sports Partnerships – of which every school in England must be a part. While the Under Secretary of State has indicated that the Department for Transport will maintain support for the scheme, there are as yet no details as to how this will be effected
Phillip Darnton, Chairman of Cycling England, said “While the abolition of Cycling England is bitterly disappointing, we are relieved by the Minister’s statement on September 27th that “Bikeability is safe”. However, neither the Minister nor DfT officials will discuss either the level of funding or the scale of their future intentions for cycle training. We will be pressing for clarification as soon as the Comprehensive Spending Review is published on October 20th. Discontinued funding would mean a new generation lost to cycling, and a risk of increased accidents through lack of proper instruction. This prospect is alarming in its implications for childhood obesity and the environmental impact of a further increase in car trips to school]
[Projects funded by Cycling England are all delivered by local groups, as part of locally determined plans. Their achievements include]
27% increase in cycling trips in three years in supported Cycling Demonstration Towns (against a national trend that has been declining consistently for 50 years)
174% increase in trips to school by bike where school cycling programmes are in place.[/COLOR]
Nationwide revival of cycling proficiency training, such that almost 300,000 young people every year now gain the confidence to cycle in modern traffic conditions, growing up with cycling as a life skill.
Economic modelling by the Department for Transport has calculated a benefit to cost ratio for these programmes of between 3:1 and 5:1
The Government has indicated that in future, local authority cycling schemes will be supported though a ’Local Sustainable Transport Fund’. Cycling England Board Member Lynn Sloman commented: ‘If the Government is to build on the last five years’ progress in getting more people cycling, it will need to do more than simply allocate grants. Cycling England’s experience is that in order to get results, you need to cut through the red tape, and really support, engage, enthuse and challenge. You need to combine the energy and passion of the cycling NGOs with the expertise of professional local authority teams; you need to share ideas and experience; and you need visionary leadership. We appeal to the Government to recognise this challenge.’
notes to eds
[COLOR=#ff0000]1. Cycling England was established in 2005 as an independent body to get ‘more people cycling, more safely, more often’. It has a Board comprising representatives of cycling NGOs (British Cycling, CTC and Sustrans) and specialists in health, education and sustainable transport. In 2009/10 it had a budget of £60 million, the majority of which was allocated in grants to local authorities, NGOs, train operators, National Parks and other bodies for practical cycling projects; further funds were allocated to a technical advice service, available to all local authorities. It has minimal overheads, with a staff team of three people, no offices and an overhead of less than 0.1% of its budget. The abolition of the body will lead to an estimated saving of £200,000 pa/
B.C should be able to provide Bikability as part of their braoder remit.
Ultimately the cost of this stuff to central Government is peanuts compared with road building schemes.
The thing is Skydancer, the only people who actually get to try and push the suits in Westmonster are the Philip Darntons of the world who used to be in big Business, the rest of the organisations are cycling around Parliament square happily on the bikes when utter Twats like Hammond go 200 yards in a Limo