I refer the Hon Member to Question 9720 answered on 18 June 2026 and to Question 10057 answered on 23 June 2026.

It is not possible to provide a breakdown by year because the funding projections cover the entire CWIS3 period and are not broken down by year. Information on the funding streams and the relevant time period can be found in the answer of 18 June 2026 to Question 10054 and the answer of 18 June 2026 to Question 9719.

Mayoral Strategic Authorities in receipt of Integrated Settlements will have specific targets for active travel. All other strategic and local transport authorities will be supported by Active Travel England to deliver their local active travel ambitions and to develop and deliver phased, funded active travel network plans in line with the Government’s devolution agenda.

No such assessment has been made. All local transport authorities will be supported by Active Travel England to deliver their local active travel ambitions in line with the Government’s devolution agenda.

Active Travel England’s published Rapid Evidence Assessments contain evidence that traffic calming measures can support increased walking, cycling and other forms of active travel in urban areas. Relevant interventions include traffic-free areas, road closures, School Streets, low-speed streets and traffic-free cycling infrastructure. The evidence suggests these measures can increase walking and cycling, improve perceptions of safety, and reduce traffic volumes and speeds.

The Rapid Evidence Assessments are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluating-the-impact-of-active-travel-investmentc.

Progress on the delivery of the targets and objectives outlined in the Third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy will be provided through statutory reports to Parliament including for disabled people.

In line with other transport modes, submissions for active travel funding have not traditionally been underpinned by independently audited traffic counts but Active Travel England (ATE) provides guidance to local authorities on conducting effective appraisal, monitoring and evaluation, which supports generation of accurate baselines for walking and cycling. Additionally, since 2024/25, authorities have had more flexibility in how to use active travel funding and applications are no longer formally approved by ATE. Instead, applications are assured against value for money, design quality and deliverability criteria.

Following publication of the Devolution White Paper in 2024, the Government has consolidated most local transport funding streams into a single flexible fund that enables local areas to align investment with priorities and reduce burdens on accessing the funding. Authorities no longer apply for funding and independent verification of baseline counts are not a requirement of consolidated funding for any transport mode. Authorities instead provide delivery plans to set out their investment priorities.

The Department has made no such assessment; these are matters for local authorities.

Achieving the targets set out in the Third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy will deliver public health outcomes through improved physical and mental health. This includes an additional 5.3 million people being physically active in towns and cities by 2035 which will result in 45,000 years of life gained through reduced risk of premature death and prevent over four million sick days every year.

Active Travel England works collaboratively with local authorities, building their capability to enable more people to walk, wheel and cycle. Milton Keynes Council and Buckinghamshire Council each received a level 2 rating in Active Travel England’s 2025 Local Authority Active Travel Capability Ratings. Published in December 2025, the report accompanying the ratings describes level 2 as ‘Strong local leadership and organisational capability, with clear plans that form the basis of an emerging network with a few elements already in place.’

As part of the government’s £626 million investment in active travel over 2026/27 to 2029/30, Buckinghamshire were allocated £9,119,124 and Milton Keynes allocated £4,733,197.

There is no requirement from Active Travel England for authorities to publish information on traffic counts. Active Travel England provides guidance on appraisal and monitoring and evaluation of active travel schemes to authorities. For transparency purposes, many authorities publish information on traffic counts as part of local engagement activities when developing new schemes.

The National Active Travel Network will bring together both urban and rural networks, such as National Cycling Network, linking towns and villages across England into a single national plan. Local authorities are responsible for deciding how to plan their network and invest funding, in line with local priorities. Active Travel England will support local authorities to improve their Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans, including issuing updated guidance, to assist local authorities in determining their local priorities. The new guidance will support consideration of a broader range of travel needs, journey types and trip purposes. There are no plans for a threshold on population size for inclusion in the National Active Travel Network.

The National Active Travel Network will bring together both urban and rural networks, such as National Cycling Network, linking towns and villages across England into a single national plan. Local authorities are responsible for deciding how to plan their network and invest funding, in line with local priorities. Active Travel England will support local authorities to improve their Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans, including issuing updated guidance, to assist local authorities in determining their local priorities. The new guidance will support consideration of a broader range of travel needs, journey types and trip purposes. There are no plans for a threshold on population size for inclusion in the National Active Travel Network.

The National Active Travel Network will bring together both urban and rural networks, such as National Cycling Network, linking towns and villages across England into a single national plan. Local authorities are responsible for deciding how to plan their network and invest funding, in line with local priorities. Active Travel England will support local authorities to improve their Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans, including issuing updated guidance, to assist local authorities in determining their local priorities. The new guidance will support consideration of a broader range of travel needs, journey types and trip purposes. There are no plans for a threshold on population size for inclusion in the National Active Travel Network.

The Department for Transport has not made a formal assessment of the accuracy of cycling usage data used by local authorities. This is the responsibility of the local authority. Active Travel England provides guidance and tools to assist local authorities in performing effective appraisal. This includes identifying and assessing the suitability of data for business case development. The guidance supports good assurance and validation of data.

Active Travel England is coordinating independent process, impact and value for money evaluation of active travel interventions. In particular, the Active Travel Fund (ATF) 2 evaluation will be published later this year and will cover a range of different infrastructure schemes. In addition, Active Travel England is overseeing delivery of further independent evaluations of a similar nature, including the Active Travel Portfolio Evaluation and the Active Travel Social Prescribing evaluation, which will be published from 2027 onwards.

The department has funded more than 2,000 active travel schemes since 2020, with many of these funded through the Active Travel Fund and wider cross-modal funding programmes. Responsibility for publishing business cases for these schemes resides with the authority receiving the funding, and many authorities publish business case material as part of local transparency arrangements.

Following publication of the Devolution White Paper in 2024, the majority of grants to local authorities are consolidated and are provided on a multi-year funding basis, including Active Travel England funding. This reduces burdens on authorities and allows greater flexibility to spend on local priorities. This funding is now paid out as part of wider integrated and consolidated funding arrangements for 2026/27 onwards.

Health outcomes are central to the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3), and the Department of Health and Social Care was fully engaged in the development of proposals.

As is standard for announcements of this type, CWIS3 was also agreed by relevant Secretaries of State via the write round process convened by the Cabinet Office.

The then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care approved the write round without amendment or conditions.