Cycling England ceased to exist as a public body on 1 April 2011.
Cycling England was an independent body funded by the Department for Transport to promote cycling in England. It was founded in 2005 to replace the National Cycling Strategy Board. Following the 2010 Comprehensive Spending review it was earmarked for abolition, to be replaced by Local Sustainability Travel Funds and new ways of supporting cycling. Cycling England ceased to exist as a public body on 1 April 2011.[1]
History
It was established in 2005, with the minister responsible being Charlotte Atkins.[2][3] Funding was initially £5m a year, leading to £10m in 2006, £20m in 2008, and £60m in 2009 and 2010.[4]
An announcement in October 2010 confirmed that the body would be abolished as part of the government's comprehensive spending review. Cycling England ceased to exist as a public body on 1 April 2011.[1]
The government has created a Local Sustainability Travel Fund and will develop other ways of supporting cycling.[5] Local Sustainability Travel Funds which were announced in late September 2010 by Norman Baker will support local transport initiatives that reduce carbon emissions using from a centrally managed fund.[6]
Bikeability was launched in March 2007 and supported three levels of cycle training for children:[8]
Level One : teaching basic skills and bicycle handling
Level Two : giving children the skills they need to cycle safely to school on quiet roads
Level Three : covering more complicated traffic environments
The scheme was adopted by half the local authorities in England and it worked closely with 'Bike to School Week'. It was estimated that by 2012, 500,000 children will have taken part in Bikeability training.[8]
Cycling England worked for Transport Direct to provide a national urban Cycle Journey Planner through the Transport Direct Portal. Work is largely complete with a number of pilot areas.[9]
Management
Cycling England was managed by a board consisting of:[10]
Phillip Darnton (previously chair of the National Cycle Strategy Board)
Alison Hill (Managing Director of Solutions for Public Health)
^"Cycling". Department for Transport. Retrieved 23 September 2010. The Department set up Cycling England in March 2005 to coordinate increases in cycling across the country.
^"Establishment". Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2010. A new national body to plan and co-ordinate the development of cycling across the country and a new National Standard for Cycle Training was announced today by the Minister for Local Transport, Charlotte Atkins. The new national body, Cycling England, will have a budget of at least £5m a year for the next three years to allocate to cycling programmes. Cycling England will change the way that the Government manages and delivers cycling policy to get better value from cycling investment
^"PUBLIC BODIES REFORM – PROPOSALS FOR CHANGE"(PDF). 14 October 2010. Archived from the original(PDF) on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2010. No longer an NDPB - Abolish body. We have announced a Local Sustainable Travel Fund and will explore ways of marshalling expert input on cycling issues, including to support the Fund
^"Norman Baker details plans for Local Sustainable Travel Fund". PublicSectorTravel. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010. Local Transport Minister Norman Baker is launching a Local Sustainable Travel Fund to support measures to encourage economic growth and reduce carbon emissions. The Fund will be financed from within the Department's overall budget allocation following the Spending Review.
