Cycling England was an independent body funded by the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

to promote cycling in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was founded in 2005 to replace the National Cycling Strategy Board. Following the 2010 Comprehensive Spending review it was earmarked for abolition, to be replaced by Local Sustainability Travel Funds and new ways of supporting cycling. Cycling England ceased to exist as a public body on 1 April 2011.Cycling England
on Department of Transport Website. Retrieved 2 May 2011.

History

It was established in 2005, with the minister responsible being

Charlotte Atkins Charlotte Jean Scott Atkins (born 24 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Staffordshire Moorlands from 1997 until 2010. Early life Atkins is the daughter of Ron Atkins, the left wing ...

. Funding was initially £5m a year, leading to £10m in 2006, £20m in 2008, and £60m in 2009 and 2010. An announcement in October 2010 confirmed that the body would be abolished as part of the government's

comprehensive spending review A spending review, or occasionally a comprehensive spending review, is a governmental process in the United Kingdom carried out by HM Treasury to set firm expenditure limits and, through public service agreements, define the key improvements that t ...

. Cycling England ceased to exist as a public body on 1 April 2011. The government has created a Local Sustainability Travel Fund and will develop other ways of supporting cycling. Local Sustainability Travel Funds which were announced in late September 2010 by

Norman Baker Norman John Baker (born 26 July 1957) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewes in East Sussex from the 1997 general election until his defeat in 2015. In May 2010 he was appointed ...

will support local transport initiatives that reduce

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...

using from a centrally managed fund.

Projects

Cycling Cities, Cycling Towns

Cycling England helped establish a number of

cycling demonstration town Cycling demonstration towns were part of a UK policy initiative to promote cycling that ran from 2005-2011. 2005: launch In 2005, 6 towns in England were chosen to be cycling demonstration towns to promote the use of cycling as a means of transp ...

s. Between 2005 and 2008 six towns across England received European levels of funding to significantly increase their cycling levels

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

and ' Lancaster with

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

' collectively received over £7m from Cycling England across three years, plus local match-funding, to deliver a range of measures designed to get more people cycling. In January 2008, the Government provided a further £140m over three years for the program which was awarded to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, Leighton-Linslade,

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in June 2008 .

Bikeability

Bikeability was launched in March 2007 and supported three levels of cycle training for children: * Level One : teaching basic skills and bicycle handling * Level Two : giving children the skills they need to cycle safely to school on quiet roads * Level Three : covering more complicated traffic environments The scheme was adopted by half the local authorities in England and it worked closely with 'Bike to School Week'. It was estimated that by 2012, 500,000 children will have taken part in Bikeability training.

National Cycle Journey Planner

Cycling England worked for

Transport Direct The Transport Direct Programme was a division of the UK Department for Transport (DfT) to develop standards, data and better information technology systems to support public transport. It developed and operates the Transport Direct Portal wh ...

to provide a national urban Cycle Journey Planner through the Transport Direct Portal. Work is largely complete with a number of pilot areas.

Management

Cycling England was managed by a board consisting of: * Phillip Darnton (previously chair of the National Cycle Strategy Board) * Alison Hill (Managing Director of Solutions for Public Health) * Peter King (Chief Executive at

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...

) * Kevin Mayne (chief Executive of the

Cyclists' Touring Club Cycling UK is a trading name of the Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC), which is a charitable membership organisation supporting cyclists and promoting bicycle use. Cycling UK is registered at Companies House as "Cyclists’ Touring Club", and is cov ...

) * Dave Merrett (elected member of

City Council, previous leader of Transport from 1988–2002) * Malcolm Shepherd (Chief executive of

Sustrans Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United Kin ...

) * Dr Lynn Sloman (Vice-Chair of the Commission for Integrated Transport) * Chris Spencer (Director of Education & Children’s Services at the

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...

) *

Christian Wolmar Christian Tage Forter Wolmar (born 3 August 1949) is a British journalist, author, railway historian and Labour Party politician.The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

)

References

External links

Official website

Official Bikeability website

News items

Cycling in towns in February 2010

New mothers in October 2009

Parents fears in May 2008

Cycling training in schools in March 2008

New cycling test in March 2007

Wealthier cyclists in January 2007

Government funding in June 2006
{{Authority control Department for Transport Cycling organisations in the United Kingdom Cycling in England Defunct non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Organisations based in the City of Westminster Sports organizations established in 2005 2005 establishments in England Organizations disestablished in 2011 2011 disestablishments in England