England Active Travel £225m budget cut challenged in court

Campaigners in the UK have told the High Court that the public spending cuts made to active travel in England last year break legally binding climate targets.

In March 2023, the Department for Transport (DfT) slashed the funding for walking and cycling by around 65%. Since the cuts came on the same day as the U-turn on the HS2 high-speed rail scheme, they were overshadowed at the time.

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Now, campaigning group Transport Action Network (TAN) has challenged the decision, arguing it is incompatible with the government's net zero strategy.

In their Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy for 2021 to 2025, the Government planned to double cycling journeys and ensure more than half of primary school children walk to school.

These plans were already headed for failure: in November 2023, a public accounts committee report revealed that the DfT had made little progress and was not on track to meet its 2025 targets. With that backdrop, cutting the budget seemed counterintuitive.

So why was it cut? TAN have argued that the cut was not a calculated decision, but an 11th-hour intervention from the Treasury.

In written arguments, TAN's lawyer David Forsdick KC pointed out that the Department for Transport's original plan had been to preserve the funding — it was perceived as a high cost-to-benefit ratio investment, important for meeting emissions and equality targets.

Even so, Forsdick wrote that "immediately prior" to the March 2023 decision, the Treasury and Number 10 put pressure on transport secretary Mark Harper to find extra savings.

"This appears to explain, at least in part, the illegalities in the decision," wrote Forsdick.

Due to the hasty decision, the link between active travel and the Government's emissions targets was not considered.

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In response, the DfT said the campaigners had got it wrong, and that the Government "expressly took into account all the material considerations" before making the change.

A DfT spokesperson said: "This government is doing more than any other to promote walking and cycling, investing over £3bn into active travel during this parliament up to 2025. We await the verdict and will respond fully once received.”

The verdict of the hearing, which took place on Tuesday, is expected in the coming weeks.

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