Cycling UK reaction to the Budget
Sarah Mitchell, Cycling UK CEO, in initial reaction to the government’s Budget announcement that there would be £2 billion ring-fenced for cycling and walking, said:
“Ring-fenced funding of £2 billion over five years will enable councils to get on with building hundreds of miles of separated cycling routes in both urban and rural areas. However it won’t deliver the tens of thousands of miles needed to create the 'world class' network that the government promised in its ‘Gear Change’ vision document last year.
“Meeting the government’s own targets to double cycling and increase walking by 2025 will require investment of between £6 and £8 billion. If England is to have a chance of making this target, local authorities must be able to make up the shortfall and secure additional funding if we’re to ‘build back better’.“
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Cycling UK, the UK’s cycling charity, imagines a world where the streets are free of congestion and the air is clean to breathe, where parents encourage their children to cycle to school and everyone shares the exhilaration of being in the saddle. For more than 140 years, we’ve been making our streets safer, opening up new traffic free routes and inspiring more people to cycle more often. www.cyclinguk.org
- The government’s strategy for cycling and walking, Gear Change was published in 2020, and set out the ambition to double cycling and increase walking by 2025. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904146/gear-change-a-bold-vision-for-cycling-and-walking.pdf
Press contact information
For more information, please contact the national Cycling UK press office. Due to the restrictions caused by the coronavirus outbreak, currently the main press office number (01483 238 315) is not being monitored. If you would like to speak to a member of the press office during working hours (0900 - 1700) please email publicity@cyclinguk.org or call 07786 320 713.
