A London council has failed to publish a single report on its own active travel policy plan, despite pledging to publish annual updates since 2024.
Brent Council’s Active Travel Implementation Plan (ATIP) was published in April 2024 and stated that “an annual monitoring report, describing progress made in delivering against the priorities and targets contained within the Active Travel Implementation Plan, will be produced and reported each year.” However, no updates have been provided.
The ATIP included 11 policy targets, including ensuring 80 percent of borough residents live within 400 metres of London’s strategic cycle network, 70 percent of all residents partake in active travel every day, and a Vision Zero strategy to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries caused by road collisions (119 in 2024). Most targets are aimed to be achieved by 2041.
A road.cc reader first contacted councillors in December 2025, requesting to read the report. However, they were told by the council that the report was not ready as it was waiting for data to be compiled and published by Transport for London. Instead, the council officer said the report would be published “in early 2026.” However it was not established which data the council was waiting for needed that was delaying the report’s publication.
The reader, who has shared his email threads with road.cc, repeated his request in February, and two weeks later received a reply stating that TfL’s 2025 monitoring report had been published in January and that the council was still reviewing the data and now aiming for a publication date of “late spring”.
road.cc believes the data under review is from the 2025 Travel in London report which was published in instalments primarily between November and December of that year, and details both the shares of different transport modes across different boroughs, and the rate of collisions and injuries. The Active Travel-specific report was published in December 2025.
Subsequent attempts to contact the council for publication did not gather a response in part, the council say, due to the pre-election period – approximately six weeks from mid-March until polling day on 7th May. Several councillors contacted over the issue also lost re-election in May.
Brent Council had been Labour-majority run since 2010 but is currently a minority administration after the party won 26 of 57 council seats, compared to 49 in 2022. Emails sent to several councillors were consequently bounced back as email addresses were deactivated.
In a statement, a Brent Council spokesperson said, “The first annual monitoring report is complete and has been submitted for publication. The delay to publication reflects the timing of the availability and validation of Transport for London data, alongside internal resourcing pressures and the pre-election period. The report will be published shortly.
“We are improving our processes and expect to publish future reports by 31 March each year, subject to external data availability.
“Brent Council is committed to delivering its Active Travel Implementation Plan and making it safer and easier for people to walk, wheel and cycle. Since 2024, we’ve delivered improved junctions and corridors, introduced nine new School Streets, and expanded cycling infrastructure across the borough.”
The council spokesperson also pointed towards the expansion of dockless bike parking bays and hangar storage in the borough, although without an annual report to evaluate and directly compare the rate of growth of active travel, it is difficult to measure the scale of investment and the feasibility of the council meeting its own targets.
The delayed report is not the first instance the actions of the council have appeared at odds with improving active travel in the borough. A 2024 investigation found that only two percent of school pupils at St. Gregory’s Catholic Science College cycled to school due to the “incredibly difficult” junction that had drivers regularly subjecting pupils to “the dreaded wrath” of a car horn.
Council leader Muhammed Butt, who retained his positions following last month’s elections, said at the time that he wanted to encourage active travel in the area. Later that year however, he told the Today programme he was considering a ban on Lime Bikes in the borough, saying they were causing a “nuisance.” The ban was not implemented however following assurances from the e-bike provider.
