The Government’s latest walking and cycling statistics, published in August 2023, show that in 2022 the proportion of short local journeys made by active travel in towns and cities was 46%.

England has a fantastic network of paths with some 120,000 miles of linear access through England’s countryside, and we are taking steps to improve this further. For example, we are designating Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route across the north of England as a new National Trail, crossing some of our most precious national landscapes making it accessible to cyclists and horse riders where it is feasible to do so. One of the benefits of designating the route as a National Trail includes circular paths and link routes making the trail more accessible to those interested in taking shorter walks locally.

The Bridlington to Filey stretch of the King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP) was also recently opened, connecting thousands of people to the Yorkshire coast. Over 850 miles of the path are now open to the public, with over 2,000 miles having now been approved as KCIIIECP. The path links to many existing walking routes, increasing the number of shorter and circular routes available.

We are also improving the way in which rights of way are recorded by implementing a package of reforms to reduce bureaucracy and speed up the process for new rights of way to be added to the legal record for everyone to enjoy.

More broadly, we are taking steps to increase the availability of green and blue spaces for everyone to enjoy, which will also increase the availability of walking routes. In January, we announced a new commitment to work across government to help ensure that everyone lives within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space. This commitment builds on work that is already happening across government. Initiatives such as DLUHC’s Levelling Up Parks Fund, Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework, DfT’s funding for active travel, and Defra’s Urban Trees Challenge Fund are all contributing already.

Active Travel England has been established by the Department to raise standards of active travel delivery, including in new developments. I have asked Active Travel England to meet with stakeholders involved in York Central.

The Department did not consult on this. The change was a factual correction to a number in a funding table and did not represent a change of policy or substance. The Department will consult in due course on the third statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3), as required by the Infrastructure Act 2015.

The Government’s ambitions for walking and cycling up to 2025 and 2030 are outlined in the second statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2) which was published in July 2022. Many of the steps the Government is taking to boost walking and cycling were also outlined in the Government’s Gear Change plan, published in July 2020. A total of around £3 billion of Government funding is projected to be invested into active travel over this Parliament. This includes at least £100m of dedicated capital funding over the two-year period 2023/24 to 2024/25, and an expected £850m of dedicated capital funding over the first three years of this Parliament.

The Department does not recognise the reduction that the Honourable Lady refers to. The figure of £3.8 billion was a projection of total investment from a wide range of Government funding streams over the five-year period of the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2), published in July 2022. The Department has had to make savings across all modes of travel to meet inflationary pressures caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Despite this, the Department continues to invest very significantly in active travel and will continue to do so.

The Department for Transport has provided almost £400 million to local authorities since 2020/21 to improve active travel infrastructure, including outside schools. Active Travel England has recently announced a further £200 million of funding for local authorities and has encouraged bids that would enable more children to walk and cycle to school.

There have been no recent discussions. There is ongoing collaborative work between the Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Transport to deliver the Government’s ambition to increase the number of journeys made by cycling and walking.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 109640 on 21 December 2022.

The Government collects data on the number of second homes in England. The latest data can be found here. National planning policy sets out that planning policies and decisions should consider the need for safe and accessible green infrastructure and open space, and local planning authorities should pursue opportunities for securing measurable net gain for biodiversity, including on brownfield sites. National planning requires local plans to provide for attractive and well-designed walking and cycling networks with supporting facilities such as secure cycle parking. Plans should also protect and enhance public rights of way and access. National Planning Policy already states that local planning authorities should pursue opportunities for securing measurable net gain for biodiversity.

Regarding York, the York local plan remains at examination. The Inspectors have yet to conclude the examination but it is important that the Independent Inspectors are given the opportunity to complete their final report.

The Government is working to release public land for new housing.

Communities must be at the heart of the planning process. The Government’s reforms, detailed in a recent WMS, will increase and enhance opportunities for involvement, so it is simpler, faster and easier for communities to engage with local plans.

We intend to consult shortly on an increase to planning fees that will help provide additional resources to further support the delivery and improvement of planning services.

Walking and cycling are among the cheapest and healthiest ways to get around and that’s why this government has made record amounts of funding available since the start of the pandemic for schemes to help more people to do so.

The department is continuing to examine future spending plans following the Autumn Statement.

The Government agrees that walking and cycling are an inexpensive and healthy way of getting around and an excellent way of helping people save money on their everyday travel costs, which is why we have already invested £600 million since the start of the pandemic in enabling more people to make these choices for their local journeys.

Active travel will remain one of the Department’s policy priorities. Enabling more people to make their everyday journeys on foot or by cycle can boost local economies as well as delivering significant health and environmental benefits. It can also help people to reduce their travel costs.

We are investing £2 billion in active travel over this Parliament to encourage more people to walk and cycle for short journeys.

The hon. Lady shares the Prime Minister’s ambition to ensure that half of all journeys are walked or cycled in towns and cities by 2030, as set out in “Gear Change”. We are investing more money than ever—£2 billion—and we have established Active Travel England in York. We have now appointed Chris Boardman MBE as England’s active travel commissioner and I will soon publish the second cycling and walking strategy. Mr Speaker, put simply, there has never been a better time to get on your bike.

The Department will continue to make active travel funding available to local transport authorities as part of its unprecedented £2 billion of investment in cycling and walking over the course of this Parliament. On 14 May, the Department announced £200 million of funding for new walking and cycling schemes across England in 46 local authorities as well as improvements to the National Cycle Network, many of which are in rural areas.

Decisions on which schemes to prioritise within their areas are matters for local authorities, and Active Travel England will work with them to help them make the case for investment. Active Travel England is also planning to produce guidance for local authorities shortly on how to support active travel in rural communities.

On 28 July 2020 the Prime Minister launched ambitious plans to boost walking and cycling in England, with a vision for half of all journeys in towns and cities to be walked or cycled by 2030. This is supported by a £2 billion package of funding for active travel over 5 years. Much of this will go to local authorities, allowing them to invest in schemes to enable more walking in these areas. These could include measures such as better pavements, more crossings, more benches and other improvements to the public realm.

The first Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS1) included targets to increase general walking and walking to school, and progress was outlined in the first CWIS Report to Parliament in 2020.

The Government will outline its future plans for walking targets in the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2) which will be published shortly.

The Department agrees that local authorities need the capacity and capability to deliver the objectives set out in these ambitious strategies. Active Travel England will have a key role to play in supporting and upskilling local authority officers, and it has already started this process. It has, for example, held meetings with, and provided detailed feedback on scheme designs, to individual local authorities. It has also run events such as a major online workshop in April for local authority planners and transport officers, which was attended by over 400 officers from 120 local authorities. The Department has also been running a series of local authority training sessions, which will see over 1,000 officers receiving training on cycle infrastructure design.

The Department does not directly fund publicity campaigns to encourage walking, but it is providing unprecedented amounts of funding to enable more walking as part of the Prime Minister’s ambitious plans to significantly boost the amount of walking and cycling in England. This includes £2m for the Walk to School Outreach programme delivered by the charity Living Streets, which allows Living Streets to deliver initiatives such as Walk to School Week, which took place earlier this month.

Further details regarding future investment plans for walking and cycling will be outlined in the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2) which will be published shortly.

Officials have worked with the Department for Transport to development of active travel social prescribing pilot schemes. Thirty one local authorities were invited to participate in a feasibility study, which has now been submitted. The local authorities selected to receive funding for pilots will be confirmed in summer 2022.

Integrated care systems will be responsible for drawing up an integrated care strategy for its area on how local Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) will be met. Commissioners of health and care services must have regard to the strategy in exercising its functions, including decisions on local social prescribing activity. This will also be informed by the outcome of the active travel pilots as it emerges.