MPs call for £10 a head spend on cycling as Cycling Delivery Plan consultation nears close

Three MPs belonging to the All Party Parliamentary Cycling revolution have urged the government to commit itself to spending £10 a head on cycling in a letter to The Times.

The group’s co-chairs, Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge Dr Julian Huppert, and Dudley North Labour MP Ian Austin were joined in making the appeal by its treasurer, Dr Sarah Wollaston, who is the Conservative MP for Totnes in Devon.

They wrote: "The future of UK cycling will be decided soon as the Department for Transport brings to a close its consultation on the draft cycling delivery plan. The government has already acknowledged cycling’s health benefits and its high return on investment. While the DfT’s draft plan is a step forward, it is still flawed.

"For cycle growth, we need long-term dedicated funding of at least £10 per head a year, which could be met from existing budgets. Cycling and its benefits are not purely a transport issue, and there must be full commitment and collaboration from other government departments in the delivery of the plan.

"Overall, the plan must be ambitious, and set itself the target of an increase of cycle use from 2 per cent to 10 per cent of all journeys by 2025 as recommended in the report Get Britain Cycling from the all-party parliamentary cycling group.

"Today we call on the government to use this opportunity to create the prime minister’s “cycling revolution,” they concluded.

The consultation remains open until 27 November and can be found here.

On Monday evening, the Department for Transport hosted an hour-long webchat on the Draft Cycling Delivery Plan. A transcript has been published on the DfT’s website.

The online event, led by Naomi Green and Junakie Begum from the DfT’s Cycling and Walking Team, does not appear to have been widely publicised in advance and attracted just seven contributors.