§ 33. Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what financial help his Department makes available to local authorities to encourage the use of cycles. [54363]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonMy Department works closely with local authorities in this field. In addition to co-operating with them on the development of new approaches to providing for cycling, we allocate substantial funding for cycling infrastructure improvements. £85 million were allocated to transport packages in 1998–99. Authorities are free to use on cycling as much of their package allocation as they choose. Next year we hope to be able to increase support for packages and to restore funding for minor works outside the areas covered by transport packages, thereby making available additional resources for cycling.