PUS for Transport (): In 2017, the
government published the first ever statutory Cycling and Walking
Investment Strategy (CWIS1), which covered the period between
2016 and 2021.
The first Report to Parliament on the delivery of the strategy
and on the progress made towards meeting its objectives was
published in February 2020. Much has changed since then,
including the publication of Gear change: a bold vision for
cycling and walking in summer 2020, and the new commitment to £2
billion of additional funding over this Parliament – the largest
amount of dedicated spending ever committed to increasing walking
and cycling in England. To date we have created Active Travel
England, led by Chris Boardman, and are providing local
authorities with funding to deliver 134 first-rate schemes to
develop new footways, cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings across
England.
Today, I am publishing the second statutory Cycling and Walking
Investment Strategy (CWIS2), which covers the period between 2021
and 2025. The strategy includes new and updated objectives
including - doubling cycling, increasing levels of walking across
the community, and walking to school; whilst also setting out the
funding in place to achieve these. It includes the projection
that a total of nearly £4 billion will be invested in walking and
cycling over the CWIS2 period – delivering new and improved
walking and cycling routes across England and behaviour change
programmes.
Alongside this, I am laying before Parliament the second Report
to Parliament on the progress made in delivering CWIS1. This
shows that good progress was made in delivering the 26 actions
outlined in CWIS1, including the delivery of the Cycle Ambition
Cities programme and a range of behaviour change programmes. It
also highlights that more than twice as much funding was invested
into walking and cycling schemes over the CWIS1 period than was
originally anticipated when CWIS1 was published in 2017. It also
outlines the progress we have made on other measures, including
those set out in the Gear Change plan. Both CWIS2 and the Report
to Parliament are publicly accessible online through the GOV.UK
website. A copy of CWIS2 will be placed in the libraries of both
Houses.