§ 18. Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to put cycling and cycling proficiency on the curriculum of primary schools. [9433]
§ Mr. PaiceSchools are free to offer lessons in cycling and cycling proficiency, but the Government have no plans to include cycling in the national curriculum.
§ Mr. RobathanWhen, Madam Speaker, you and I were at school—not so long ago in your case—a great many children cycled to school, and as a result there was much less congestion on our roads in the mornings and afternoons. Does my hon. Friend agree with hiscolleagues in the Department of Transport that we should encourage cycling and discourage congestion? Does he agree with his friends at the Department of Health that we should discourage child obesity and encourage healthy child activities, such as cycling? Does he agree with his colleagues at the Department of the Environment that we should decrease pollution and vehicle emissions? If so, will he also make it his Department's policy to encourage 351 schools to make cycling facilities available to encourage cycling to and from school? Does he further agree that it is a long way to cycle from Peckham to Bromley or from Islington to the Oratory school?
§ Mr. PaiceI am sure that when my hon. Friend was at school there were a lot more cycles and a lot more cycle sheds, behind which he no doubt learnt something. What 352 the Government have done is to slim down the national curriculum, as a result of requests from teachers, to give teachers far more flexibility in how they organise their school days. We would like them to use that flexibility as they think most appropriate. Clearly, the opportunity for young people to learn about cycling and to take cycling proficiency tests would be one of the things to which I hope they would give some priority.