Date set for Get Britain Cycling debate in Parliament and No. 10 announcement on cycling
[UPDATE: See details of the Prime Minister's announcement made on 12 August 2013].
Confirmation has just come in that MP Julian Huppert's request for a parliamentary debate on cycling has been successful.
Meanwhile, the Times has confirmed that an announcement on cycling from Number 10 is scheduled for the beginning of August.
This may well be the moment that £42m in funding for cycling cities and national parks is announced, to be spent by 2015.
A month after that, on the 2nd September, CTC will be urging as many MPs in Westminster as possible to attend the debate, support the recommendations of the 'Get Britain Cycling' report and agree how important it is to implement them.
Get Britain Cycling, published by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling (APPCG) in April, compiled evidence from a wide variety of cycling experts, including representatives from CTC.
A key recommendation is the creation of a much bigger budget for cycling - at least £10 per person per year, increasing to £20. To turn such an ambition into reality, political commitment is crucial and we hope that the debate will press this point in particular - especially as the Treasury has recently let cycling down.
We need to get the whole of Britain cycling: not just healthy people or sporty young males, but people of all ages and backgrounds, in urban and rural areas.
Get Britain Cycling report, APPCG
Already, huge numbers of people - almost 70,000 - have signed a Government petition on Get Britain Cycling, showing how much public support it has.
This now needs to be matched by the sort of "vision, ambition and strong political leadership" that the report highlights is vital if Britain is ever going to realise "the full potential of cycling to contribute to the health and wealth of the nation and the quality of life in our towns and local communities."
The current text of the motion to be debated on the 2nd of September is:
"That this House supports the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group's report 'Get Britain Cycling'; endorses the target of 10 per cent of all journeys being by bike by 2025, and 25 per cent by 2050; and calls on the Government to show strong political leadership, including an annual Cycling Action Plan and sustained funding for cycling."
The more MPs who have signed the motion before Parliament is recessed on Thursday 18th July, the better. Please write to your MP before this date, if you can, to ask them to sign.
Read more about Get Britain Cycling.
