Is Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne about to axe the Cycle to Work scheme? That’s the worrying rumour hitting the UK’s bike industry ahead of tomorrow’s Comprehensive Spending Review, already expected to offer little, if anything, for cycling in England.
– Cycling likely to suffer in government spending review
Paul Lewis, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Moneybox programme, tweeted this morning that salary sacrifice schemes, the model used by the Cycle to Work scheme which allows employees to acquire a bicycle tax-free by effectively leasing it from their employer, may be scrapped.
He wrote: "Salary sacrifice ... may be targeted by Chancellor." Trade publication BikeBiz asked him whether the tweet was based on guesswork or if he had a concrete source, to which he replied: “We’ll see tomorrow!!”
As BikeBiz notes, it is widely anticipated that cycling will miss out in tomorrow’s review, with a source within the sustainable transport sector warning it earlier this month that the industry needed to “prepare for the worst.”
The source said: “There are no indications that active travel modes will get anything out of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
“The government believes major infrastructure projects will generate economic growth, and our arguments about health, the environment, the economic potential of cycling and how building more roads leads to more congestion have fallen on deaf ears.”
“Patrick McLoughlin [secretary of state for transport] has persuaded himself that ‘further and faster’ projects are the only transport interventions that can deliver economic growth so everything else can, and will, be ignored.”
In July, Sam Jones of national cyclists’ charity CTC told road.cc that cycling in England was approaching a “funding cliff” which would see money for infrastructure and other initiatives dry up.
Today, British Cycling policy advisor Chris Boardman repeated his call for the government to continue to provide money for cycling.
Writing in the Guardian, he said: “The chancellor is a busy man. The day before the results of his Comprehensive Spending Review, I doubt he is giving too much thought to cycling but if he did he would see the real opportunity it offers to boost the economy and lighten the load on the public purse.
“I am a cyclist but I am also a motorist. My family runs two cars and I drive about 25,000 miles every year. I’m not a fanatical advocate, I’m a realist who champions the cause of the bicycle because I believe in evidence. In fact the issue here is not about cyclists or cycling at all: it is about transport, health, pollution and the economy.”
The former world and Olympic champion pointed out that according to figures compiled by the government, “physical inactivity costs Britain £47bn a year – nearly £1bn a week,” while air pollution claims nearly 30,000 lives a year and congestion costs businesses billions.
“Cycling alone cannot solve all of these problems, but it can make a significant contribution in a way that offers outstanding value for money,” added Boardman, who recounted his recent trip to Copenhagen with transport minister Robert Goodwill.
– Video: Chris Boardman's 3 cycling lessons UK can take from Denmark
“The prime minister is committed to a ‘cycling revolution’ and supports our call for £10 per person, backed up by manifesto commitments,” Boardman went on. “He has a parliamentary majority, not that he needs it because there is clear cross-party support. The legislation to underpin long term investment has already been passed. He has seen evidence in other European capitals that prove investment works.”
Highlighting that businesses and the general public want to see money invested in cycling, he added: “I haven’t spoken to a single person who didn’t want their children to be able to ride to school - which 50% of kids in the Netherlands do - or live in a place with less traffic and pollution. And it can all happen for a modest amount of money - from funds that already exist.
“The chancellor can fix this and the spending review is his opportunity,” he concluded. “We know where the prime minister and parliament stand, we know what business and the public wants. If the chancellor delivers there will still be work to do, but after years of empty gestures and unfulfilled commitments, at least we’ll know where he stands.”