DfT ‘in the process of updating the cycle to work scheme'
Posted on in Cycles News
"The Department is currently in the process of updating the Cycle to Work Scheme guidance and will make a further announcement later in the year," says Transport minister Jesse Norman.
The All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group (APPCG) has released its latest Parliamentary monitoring report for July 2018 which outlines the questions and debates on cycling, and cycle related issues being discussed in parliament over the last month.
Topics covered in July include bikes on trains, e-bikes, legislation for dangerous driving and the Cycle to Work Scheme. View the entire report, and past reports here.
With a focus on what the DfT are doing to specifically boost e-bike usage, Sterling MP Stephen Kerr asked the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of updating the Cycle to Work Scheme guidance to facilitate a greater uptake in electric bikes.
In response, Jesse Norman wrote "The Cycle to Work Scheme can already be used to assist with the purchase of electrically assisted pedal cycles, and is one of the many ways in which the Government is supporting active travel choices, as set out in the 2017 Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. The Department is currently in the process of updating the Cycle to Work Scheme guidance and will make a further announcement later in the year."
Whilst Norman does not go into any more details, it is likely that any announcement of a change in cycle to work guidance would come in the autumn statement.
Kerr also questioned the Secretary of State for Transport on what recent assessment he has made of the potential benefits of a greater uptake in electric bikes for (a) older people, (b) people on low incomes and (c) people with mobility problems.
Commenting on this, Norman says "the Government's Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS), published in April 2017, encourages people to take up cycling, either on conventional bikes or electric bikes. The Department recognises that electric bikes offer a wide range of potential benefits, including to health and to the environment, and that they can make cycling easier and more attractive. The Department has not undertaken any formal assessment of the potential benefits of a greater uptake of electric bikes by those particular groups, but the measures set out in the CWIS should lead to an overall increase in the use of electric bikes, and the benefits associated with this."
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