Cyclists at traffic lighs, London © Simon MacMichael.jpg The government is facing a legal challenge from a campaign group over its cut to investment in walking and cycling in England , as lawyers acting on behalf of Transport Action Network (TAN) have written to the Department for Transport (DfT) seeking a judicial review into the cuts.
In news first reported by Peter Walker of the Guardian (link is external) , the claim has been made that the active travel budget cuts bypassed legal processes and risk undermining commitments about air pollution and the climate emergency.
The cuts were slammed "a backward move" by the Walking and Cycling Alliance (WACA) in March when they were announced, an estimate made that two thirds of previously promised funding would be lost, making it "impossible" to meet Net Zero and active travel targets.
As pointed out in Parliament by SNP MP Gavin Newlands a month later, the slash to the active travel budget means that less than £1 per head will be spent in England outside of London versus £50 per head in Scotland .
Now, TAN’s lawyers from Leigh Day have sent a pre-action legal letter to transport secretary Mark Harper and raised the same point as Newlands, comparing £1 per head to Scotland’s £58 and £23 per head in Wales. Mark Harper (Parliament) TAN, currently crowdfunding the £40,000 cost of the case, also argues that the DfT’s claim that more than £3 billion is being spent on active travel during this parliament includes budgets […]
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