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Still no sign of the government's £50 Fix Your Bike vouchers

DfT is still finalising details of scheme – but with lockdown easing, time is pressing to get would-be cyclists back on the road

When Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced in early May that the government would be providing vouchers to people in England to help them meet the cost of getting long-neglected bicycles repaired, it sparked a lot of interest from road.cc readers – but there's still no confirmation of when they will launch, or how you can obtain one.

The vouchers were supposed to be available “from this month” but road.cc has learnt from the Department for Transport that details of the scheme are still being finalised and there is no confirmation of when it will come into effect.

On Saturday 9 May, Shapps delivered the government’s daily Downing Street press conference on the COVID-19 crisis and announced measures being taken to promote cycling and walking, including £250 million for emergency active travel infrastructure.

> Government announces £250m emergency active travel fund as part of £2bn investment

He also highlighted the benefits of the Cycle to Work scheme, as well as measures to help people get existing bikes back on the road.

“There has been a huge increase in people using the scheme, and we will work with employers to increase uptake further,” he said.

“And for those who may have an old bike in the shed, and want to get it back into a roadworthy condition, there will be a voucher scheme for bike repairs and maintenance.

“Plans are also being developed to boost bike fixing facilities.”

A fortnight later, hosting the press conference on Saturday 23 May, he gave further details of the scheme, confirming that half a million vouchers would be made available, to a value of £50 each.

> Government to issue half a million £50 repair vouchers to get neglected bikes back on the road

He said: “Previously we announced the introduction of a scheme to help bring bicycles back to a roadworthy condition, relieving the pressure on public transport, and improving the nation’s health.”

The transport secretary said the voucher would be “available from next month” [ie June] and would “help up to half-a-million people drag bikes out of retirement.”

He was back at the Downing Street lectern on Thursday 4 June, and this time we learnt the voucher had a snazzy new name – “Fix Your Bike” – but still there were no details of how and when people could obtain them, only that they would be available “later this month.”

Our money would have been on the scheme being announced last week – it was Bike Week, after all – but on Friday, when Shapps was once again the cabinet minister giving the daily press conference, there was only the briefest of passing references to cycling.

When he initially announced the scheme and other measures to boost cycling in early May, Shapps highlighted the opportunity of “a ‘once in a generation’ change to the way people travel in Britain.”

That came just days after Boris Johnson, speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, had heralded a “new Golden Age for cycling.”

> Prime Minister heralds “new Golden Age for cycling” – starting as soon as Sunday?

In the intervening weeks, campaigners including British Cycling policy advisor Chris Boardman, who is also cycling and walking commissioner for Greater Manchester, have warned that the window to seize that opportunity was limited.

But with lockdown in England easing further as of yesterday as many non-essential retailers re-opened, and motor traffic levels heading back towards pre-lockdown measures, fears are that it may already have closed.

As the headline of an article in The Times today put it, ‘Hopes of a golden age for cycling have been punctured.’

Meanwhile, whenever the Fix Your Bike vouchers do become available, that raises the question of how long it would take for all those bikes to be mended?

Assuming full take-up and with perhaps a couple of thousand shops at most, ranging from independents to chains, providing bicycle repair and maintenance services, those half-million vouchers work out at 250 bikes per shop.

Given that bike shops that do undertake such services are already facing unprecedented demand, with customers typically needing to book a slot several weeks ahead to be able to bring their bikes in – many retailers do make exceptions for key workers such as NHS staff, however – even once the vouchers are available, people may face a lengthy wait to actually be able to use them.

Add in the fact that in many cases it will not be a case of a simple, regular check-up, with parts having to be ordered to get bikes roadworthy again, and it could be that by the time many people get their bikes in a fit condition to be able to ride them to work, traffic volumes may deter them from doing so.

Interest in the vouchers definitely exists –  each time we mention them, cyclists new and old alike ask us for more details and when they can obtain them – so it would be a huge shame if the opportunity to get all those bikes, and riders, back on the road were missed.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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12 comments

Avatar
mdavidford | 4 years ago
1 like
Quote:

there was only the briefest of passing references to cycling

Was it a close-passing reference?

Avatar
Rome73 | 4 years ago
3 likes

Did anyone ever really believe any of this ‘golden age of cycling’ bollox?
I mean c’mon.

Avatar
billymansell | 4 years ago
4 likes

As a representative of Her Majesty's Govt I'd just like to point out that you've all clearly misunderstood the govt's plan here. The govt's plan was always to build the capacity to provide the vouchers for which we've been very successful.

Where are the actual vouchers you ask? Firstly, mind your tone and as we've already explained we've successfully built the capacity. No further questions.

Avatar
Grahamd replied to billymansell | 4 years ago
3 likes

billymansell wrote:

As a representative of Her Majesty's Govt I'd just like to point out that you've all clearly misunderstood the govt's plan here. The govt's plan was always to build the capacity to provide the vouchers for which we've been very successful.

Where are the actual vouchers you ask? Firstly, mind your tone and as we've already explained we've successfully built the capacity. No further questions.

And there was I thinking they were going to issue them for a single designated company that happened to be owned by one of the Tory donors. 

Avatar
Awavey | 4 years ago
0 likes

The Times,isnt that the paper Rod Liddle writes for ? though their piece falls down in the 2nd paragraph,there can be no worry the measures wont arrive soon enough,as the 225million was committed on the proviso all the local authorities had enacted them temporarily by the end of last week IIRC,if not at the very least submitted their plans as you cant exactly temporarily install all the new signs or cycle lanes you need straight away,but it was  to prevent any delay caused by councils procrastinating about it, so what you see or should be seeing published is what you are getting.

As for the vouchers, well would you rather the government rushed it through and ultimately left hundreds maybe thousands of local bike shops out of pocket as people find ways to duplicate them or fraud the system, its 25million pounds,thats not an insignificant amount of money, if it helps to think of it real terms think how many nurses wages that money could pay for, how many school childrens free meals it could fund instead.

Cycle to work day is the 6th August, #BikeIsBest is just getting going, lets see what the government come up within the next 2 weeks

Avatar
HarrogateSpa | 4 years ago
5 likes

100% of this government's efforts are focused on "world-leading" propaganda. None of their efforts are focused on "world-leading" delivery.

To be fair, Grant Shapps isn't the worst of Johnson's rabble, and Andrew Gilligan probably does actually want to do something.

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to HarrogateSpa | 4 years ago
2 likes

HarrogateSpa wrote:

100% of this government's efforts are focused on "world-leading" propaganda. None of their efforts are focused on "world-leading" delivery.

To be fair, Grant Shapps isn't the worst of Johnson's rabble, and Andrew Gilligan probably does actually want to do something.

I'm sure Grant Shapps will be able to build a glittering career with the accolade of not being the worst of Johnson's rabble.

Seriously, it says something about the competence and ability of our leaders when the best of them can only be described in negative terms.

Avatar
Sriracha | 4 years ago
3 likes

So they are effectively giving out £50 notes that can only be spent on servicing a bike in a bike shop. All that can hope to achieve is to inflate the cost of bike servicing by about £50.

Avatar
eburtthebike | 4 years ago
2 likes

Is it one voucher per bike?  Asking for a friend.

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brooksby | 4 years ago
3 likes

I think they're probably just hoping we've all forgotten about it.

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rliu replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
4 likes

What in this government's previous record would lead you to suggest they're capable of this level of sneaky dithering?

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to rliu | 4 years ago
5 likes

rliu wrote:

What in this government's previous record would lead you to suggest they're capable of this level of sneaky dithering?

To be fair, sneaky dithering is one of the few things they are competent at.

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