HC Deb 15 February 2001 vol 363 cc213-4W
Mr. McDonnell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the Government's policies to promote(a) cycling and (b) road safety. [150317]

Mr. Hill

The Government are committed to tripling the number of cycling trips from a 2,000 base by 2010 and quadrupling them from a 1996 base by 2012. £8.4 billion of Government funding has been provided to local authorities in the recent local transport settlement. This will help to promote sustainable transport measures, including cycling. The cycling strategies included in the authorities' local transport plans (LTPs) should identify gaps in the local cycle network and improvements to the cycling infrastructure. Initial monitoring suggests that the strategies will result in considerable additional provision for cycling.

We have taken the initiative in marketing the main messages of the national cycling strategy. Early outcomes are the launch of an NCS website, development of a promotional video and, during spring 2001, a number of cycling seminars throughout England aimed at local authorities, major employers and health and education practitioners.

We set out our policies for pursuing the Government's road safety strategy in "Tomorrow's Roads—Safer for Everyone", which was launched on 1 March last year. It sets a new target to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads by 40 per cent. by the year 2010, a separate target of 50 per cent. for children, and a 10 per cent. reduction in the slight casualty rate.

Special measures for cyclists are detailed in chapters two and nine of the strategy, but measures described elsewhere, particularly on driver training, will be to their benefit.

Copies of "Tomorrow's Roads—Safer for Everyone" are in the Library and the Vote Office.