A transport minister has admitted in the House of Commons this morning that current levels of active travel funding are around £600 million short of what is needed to achieve the government’s own targets for cycling and walking.
That announcement was made in the same week Conservative MPs voted to remove Johnson as Prime Minister, since when the business of government has been hugely disrupted by the Tory leadership contest, the summer Parliamentary recess, the death of Queen Elizabeth and the current financial crisis facing the UK.
She added that “a minimum of £5.5 billion is likely to be required to meet the objectives to 2030,” and that the actual amount will depend on a wide variety of factors.” In reaction to Frazer’s comments, Matt Mallinder, Cycling UK director, commented: “Today we saw government recognise they need at least a minimum of £4.4 billion to meet their own modest targets for increasing active travel – more than a doubling of current levels," based on amounts committed to date.