England’s active travel spend 5,000% less than Scotland’s after budget slash

A Scottish MP pointed out in Parliament today that the spend per head in England, outside of London, would be lower than a pound — 5,000% less than what the Scottish Government is spending to encourage active travel, after the £200 million cut to England’s budget.

SNP’s Gavin Newlands, speaking in the House of Commons today morning, questioned the UK Government’s ambitions of reaching net zero following the massive cut in  England’s active travel budget announced last month, where he compared England’s scant spend per head to that in Wales and Scotland.

“The Government had a relative positivity of ambition on active travel before slashing the budget, as they now plan to spend less than £1 per head in England outside London, compared with £17 per head in Wales and £50 in Scotland — that’s 5,000 per cent more,” he said.

In the Transport Committee yesterday, the Secretary of State had spoken about England’s other active travel spendings, which are not included in the core funding. However, Newlands provided a rebuttal to that today, citing several projects such as the Black Cart bridge near Glasgow airport that will provide a crossing for people to walk or cycle.

He ended with asking: “Without the waffle, what will the Government do to deliver transformational change?”

> “A backward move” – Government slashes active travel budget for England

To which, Jesse Norman, Minister of Transport replied: “The Government is spending £3 billion on this area over the current spending period. Active Travel England is making an enormous difference to the quality of schemes throughout England.

“And of course, there’s significant amounts of money going in through the Levelling Up fund and through CRSTS [City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements], and other schemes, so we believe that we are on track to meet our targets.”

England could be left behind the rest of the UK after the Government cut dedicated capital funding for walking, wheeling & cycling to just £1 per person ⚠

Thanks to @GavNewlandsSNP for highlighting this. If you think it's wrong, join our call for change👇https://t.co/7fGW6Js26c pic.twitter.com/PLhuseYB4Y

— Sustrans (@Sustrans) April 20, 2023

In March, Transport Secretary Mark Harper had announced a £200 million, or two-thirds cut to active travel budget, which was described as “devastating” by Sustrans and “a backward move” by the Walking & Cycling Alliance (WACA), making it “impossible” to meet net zero and cycling and walking targets.

It has already led to a coalition of all members of WACA along with 28 charities and over 118 cycling training providers writing an open letter to the Prime Minister to demand a reversal of the proposed cuts.

> £200m available for cycling and walking travel schemes in England – with councils urged to prioritise safety of women

WACA said in an announcement that these cuts were “disproportionate compared to those for road and rail and will leave England lagging far behind other UK nations and London”.

“It is heart-breaking to see vital active travel budgets wiped away in England, at the exact time when they are most essential to UK economic, social and environmental prospects,” said WACA. “Representing a two-thirds cut to promised capital investment in walking, cycling and wheeling, these cuts are a backward move for active travel and will counteract the tremendous progress we’ve seen in recent years.”

Gavin Newlands, who is the SNP’s MP for Paisley & Renfrewshire North, was also present at Tuesday’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking's (APPGCW) 2023 showcase event, where calls were made for “consistent” funding to cycling and walking.

Thanks to @GavNewlandsSNP, SNP Transport spokesperson, for visiting our Active Travel Showcase and showing their support for making cycling, walking, and wheeling safer for everyone. pic.twitter.com/N2uKmlYlQC

— APPGCW (@allpartycycling) April 18, 2023

Ruth Cadbury, Labour MP and co-chair of the cross-party group, speaking at the event noted the clear benefits cycling infrastructure in her constituency, and stressed the importance of it being funded “properly and sustainably”. She also said the APPGCW was “disappointed” to learn of a cut to the active travel budget in last month's Spring Budget.

> MP stresses need for "consistent" cycling funding after "disappointing" cut to active travel budget

Cadbury suggested it was difficult to know exactly how great the cuts are but said the estimated £50 million per year is “shockingly low for an economy and nation like ours”.

“This compares to in London, the spending is £150 million over the same period,” she put in context. “Members of this group, across all parties and across both houses, will continue to make the case for the importance of cycling and walking, and consistent funding in order to achieve that.”