Worcestershire County Council at risk of losing active travel funding
They must prove to Government transport ministers they're taking it seriously
Worcestershire County Council is at risk of losing out on government money active travel unless it can prove it is taking it seriously.
The local authority is one of only a handful of authorities across the country to be asked for more proof it is still committed to its plans to improve walking and cycling plans before government funding can be handed over.
The Department for Transport has published a list highlighting several local authorities that ministers needed “further assurances” from before money – which could amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds – could be handed over.
The council had already lost out on more than half a million pounds in government funding after its walking and cycling bids failed to meet the criteria for emergency active travel funding last year.
In a warning to council leaders on last week, transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris said authorities that had “prematurely removed or weakened” active travel schemes would see the funding reduced or removed.
Councils have also been warned they could lose out on future funding if schemes are not up to scratch.
Chris Heaton-Harris said: "We have no interest in requiring councils to keep schemes which are proven not to work, but that proof must be presented.
"Schemes must not be removed prematurely, or without proper evidence and too soon to collect proper evidence about their effects."
A one-year review of the Department for Transport’s Gear Change cycling and walking plan said the government would reduce funding to councils – particularly in urban areas – which did not take active travel seriously.
Last year, it was revealed that Worcestershire County Council would only receive ÂŁ784,000 of its ÂŁ1.3 million bid for emergency government active travel funding.
At fifty-eight per cent, the gap between the amount of money the county council bid for and how much it is actually set to receive was among the worst in the country.
Cycling campaigners had called the council’s bids “inadequate” saying it did not go far enough to address most of the key aims set out by the government for the funding – including pop-up bike lanes, widened pavements, and cycle and bus-only corridors – to help people social distance in busy areas.
Councillor Alan Amos, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport said: "We’re committed to improving active travel within the county and have already made a number of improvements.
"These include the opening of the Hams Way and Broomhall Way footbridges, as part of Worcester’s Southern Link Road scheme and a large programme of walking and cycling improvements has recently finished in Bromsgrove, thanks to funding from the National Productivity Investment Fund.
"We currently have works taking place on the A38 in Bromsgrove and we have recently completed an engagement exercise looking at further improvements in Kidderminster, Pershore, Redditch and Worcester.
"We also have a number of bids in to fund future active travel improvements, including as part of the government’s Capability Fund and Levelling Up Fund."