£3m grant announced to provide cycle training for 80,000 children
Monday 17 March 2008 10:16
£3m grant announced to provide cycle training for 80,000 children
Transport Minister Rosie Winterton today announced that over £3m would be dedicated to providing cycle training to nearly 80,000 school children by March 2009. This funding is part of the record £140m package announced in January, which will give up to half a million ten to eleven year olds cycle training by 2012.
Cycling has a major role to play in the Government's drive to promote sustainable travel - 41% of all trips are less than two miles, a distance easily cycled in less than 15 minutes. Bikeability training gives children and parents the skills and confidence to cycle safely on today's busy roads, enabling them to undertake short journeys, for example cycling to school.
Rosie Winterton said:
"Encouraging cycling also encourages healthier lifestyles. Considering obesity now affects around one quarter of adults and 1 in 10 children, encouraging people to take exercise has never been more important.
"At the same time congestion is getting worse. If parents can be satisified their children can cycle safely they are more likely to let them use their bikes. And getting children cycling could even encourage their parents to dust off their own bikes."
The funding will support the new National Cycle Training Standard being promoted in England by Cycling England as Bikeability - the new cycling proficiency for the 21st century.
This training allows children to learn essential road safety skills and gain greater awareness of the dangers on the road - giving parents reassurance that their children are suitably equipped to use the roads and enjoy their bikes. The training is also complemented by Cycling England's funding of links to school from the National Cycle Network and increases in secure cycle parking at schools.
Philip Darnton Chairman of Cycling England in supporting the DfT announcement said:
"This is wonderful news for cycling. We are making real progress with the delivery of Bikeability training. We are now well on course to exceed the 100,000 additional training places promised to the then Secretary of State when Cycling England was set up in 2005 and the extra 500,000 training places the Department wants by 2012."
The funding package announced in January will also see an expansion of the cycling demonstration areas programme and an additional 250 links to schools connecting 500 schools via traffic calmed or traffic-free routes to the wider national cycle network as well as other programmes to promote cycling.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The Bikeability scheme is a new training standard designed to provide children with the on-road skills they need to handle modern traffic conditions. It was launched in March 2007. See http://www.bikeability.org.uk
2. Bikeability has been designed and developed by leading experts in the road safety and cycling fields including RoSPA, Local Authority Road Safety Officers (LARSOA) and the CTC. It is based on similar principles to lessons for motorcycles, allowing cyclists to assess risks and obstacles faced on the road
3. It involves a much higher standard of cycle training, including an on-road element and is designed to give confidence and skills to deal with today's road conditions. Bikeability teaches more than how to control a bike, helping people assess the risks and obstacles they are likely to face when cycling.
Bikeability consists of 3 levels of training:-
Level 1: aimed at 7-9 year olds is off road and teaches basic cycling and balances skills;
Level 2: aimed at 10-11 years introduces on-road training building on the first level.
Level 3: aimed at older children/ adults. Includes tackling difficult road features (e.g. roundabouts) and the safe use of cycle facilities.
4. The Department is providing 68 local highway authorities with cycle training grants in 2008/09. All eligible grant bids have been met in full. The funding will pay for cycle training for nearly 80,000 new places above those already being funded by local authorities. A full list of the grants awarded and number of children to be trained is attached.
5. Grants were available for a maximum of £40 per pupil. Where the cost of training exceeds £40 local authorities top up the funding either with their own funding or with parental contributions. Cost of training can vary depending on different costs and delivery mechanisms around the country.
6. In addition to funding cycle training through local authorities Cycling England also offers grants direct to schools through the Youth Sport Trust School Sports Partnerships. Cycling England also fund bursaries for new cycle trainers and provide funding for Bike It officers who work in schools to promote cycling.
7. Six Cycling Demonstration Towns (Aylesbury, Brighton & Hove, Darlington, Derby, Exeter & Lancaster with Morecambe) are sharing Department for Transport funding of £8.9m from 2005 to October 2008 to promote cycling and spread best practice for other areas to learn from. Cycling England announced in February the bidding process for up to 11 more demonstration areas including the first large cycle city. The closing date for applications is 31 March 2008. The winning areas are expected to be announced in late June. Subject to satisfactory plans the current 6 will be invited to continue until 2011 and assist the new towns with their programmes."
Annex
List of local authorities receiving Cycle Training Grants
Local Authority Grant Number of Allocation£ Children to Be Trained Bath & NE Somerset Council 14,175 350 Barnsley MBC 52,000 1300 Bedfordshire County Council 32,000 800 Birmingham City Council 40,000 1000 Blackburn with Darwen Borough 20,000 500 Council Blackpool Borough Council 19,800 600 Bolton MBC 40,000 1000 Bradford MBC 10,000 250 Brighton & Hove Council 55,200 1380 Bristol City Council 36,000 900 Bury MBC 10,000 250 Buckinghamshire County Council 57,500 2500 Coventry City Council 20,000 500 Cumbria County Council 150,000 3750 Devon County Council 16,800 480 Doncaster MBC 16,000 400 Dudley MBC 40,000 1000 Durham City Council 188,000 4,700 Essex County Council 10,000 250 Gateshead MBC 19,941 690 Hampshire County Council 100,000 2500 Hartlepool Borough Council 76,000 1900 Hertfordshire County Council 65,000 1625 Kent County Council 14,000 350 Kirklees Council 32,000 800 Lancashire County Council 11,520 288 Leicester City Council 92,000 2300 Luton Borough Council 10,000 250 Manchester city Council 56,640 1416 Medway District Council 80,000 2,000 Merseyside Travel Partnership 346,000 8,650 Middlesborough Borough Council 10,000 250 Northamptonshire County Council 50,000 1250 Northumberland County Council 100,000 2500 North Somerset District Council 30,000 1000 North Tyneside Council 16,294.50 450 Nottingham City Council 23,040 576 Nottinghamshire County Council 30,400 800 Oldham MBC 32,640 816 Oxfordshire County Council 15,000 375 Redcar & Cleveland MBC 18,379.04 466 Rotherham MBC 40,000 1000 Rutland MBC 12,000 300 Salford City Council 22,000 550 Sheffield City Council 60,680 1517 Shropshire County Council 20,000 500 Slough Borough Council 10,000 250 Solihull MBC 10,000 250 Somerset County Council 16,000 400 Southend Borough Council 19,200 640 South Gloucester Council 12,000 300 South Tyneside Council 103,680 2,592 Staffordshire County Council 156,000 4,000 Stockport MBC 24,000 600 Stockton on Tees MBC 32,000 800 Stoke-on-Trent City Council 48,000 1200 Surrey County Council 73,382 3631 Tameside MBC 32,000 800 Telford & Wrekin Council 32,000 800 Thurrock Borough Council 24,000 600 Torbay Borough Council 10,000 250 Warrington Borough Council 79,160 1979 Warwickshire County Council 12,800 320 West Berkshire District Council 10,000 250 Wigan MBC 20,160 504 Wiltshire County Council 40,000 100 Worcestershire County Council 18,000 450 Wolverhampton MBC 40,000 1000
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk