Tory MP triggers a Westminster Hall debate on cycle investment

A Tory MP has secured a Westminster Hall debate on cycle investment. CTC is urging cyclists to ask their MPs to attend next Wednesday’s debate. Tabled by Chris Green, Conservative MP for Bolton West, the debate follows the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, which allotted £300m for cycling and walking over the next five years. This amounts to central Government funding of just £1.39 per person in England outside London, and is, in effect, a 30 percent cut in funding.

In the Get Britain Cycling report of the last parliament the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group called for sustained investment in cycling of at least £10 per head annually, rising to £20 per head.

Roads and cycling minister Robert Goodwill MP told Parliament in 2014 that he aspired to reach the £10 per head figure by 2020/21, yet the funding so far allocated for cycling falls well short of this level.

David Murray, CTC’s head of communications, said: "TNational roads funding is set at £15bn over the next five years. We believe that the Government should reallocate some of that £15bn from roads to cycling and walking investment. Instead of worsening air pollution, congestion and other traffic-related problems, the money could be so much better spent on solving them."

CTC has created an automated form for alerting MPs to the debate. Westminster Hall debates give MPs an opportunity to raise issues and receive a response from a government minister. They are very often sparsely attended.