Government undermining Court of Appeal ruling on healthy travel funding, say campaigners

One year after its landmark Court of Appeal victory, Transport Action Network (TAN) is warning that new flexibilities for cash strapped councils risk hollowing out the “dedicated funding” for cycling and walking that judges ruled should be protected. This reversal comes as the Labour government is expected to publish its first ever Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3) this week¹.

After years of piecemeal funding, Parliament sought to give active travel the same system of long-term strategies as major roads through a provision in the Infrastructure Act 2015². This was the basis on which the Court of Appeal ruled on 10 June 2025 that a ministerial decision in 2023 to cut funding by £250 million was unlawful³. The judgment was widely seen as a turning point.

However, newly issued government guidance on transport now allows councils to spend “dedicated funding” for active travel on road schemes, whereas roads funding cannot be moved the other way. This seems to run counter to a promise in the Government’s recent integrated transport strategy to treat walking and cycling equally with driving⁴.

Chris Todd, Director of Transport Action Network, said:

“This is a deeply concerning reversal. Parliament, the courts, the National Audit Office and local government bodies have all stated the obvious, that funding for healthy travel needs stability and certainty. Now of all times, with an oil crisis and a cost of living crisis, on top of runaway climate change and a physical inactivity epidemic, you would have thought the government could at least get this one right.”⁵

This summer sees the thirtieth anniversary of the National Cycling Strategy, Britain’s first ever such plan⁶. While other European countries have seen huge progress, England has struggled to shift gears with cycling stuck at 2% of journeys for a generation. TAN is calling for the Department for Transport to step up in CWIS3 by setting out a similar level of ambition, funding and reform as contained in the Government’s Clean Energy Action Plan⁷.

Roger Geffen, of Low Traffic Future Alliance, said:

“Getting England back on track will require sustained ambition, funding and delivery in every part of the country. The history of three decades of failed national cycling and active travel strategies suggests that targets are meaningless unless accompanied by enough dedicated funding and the political focus needed to meet them. “

ENDS

TAN will be publishing a briefing on its website at transportactionnetwork.org.uk.

Notes for editors

1. The first and second Cycling and Walking Strategies (CWIS1 and CWIS2) were set in 2017 and 2022 by the previous Conservative Government. ↩︎
2. Section 21 of the Infrastructure Act 2015. ↩︎
3. Transport Action Network Limited, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Transport [2025] EWCA Civ 702. See also legal papers page on TAN website. ↩︎
4. Better Connected committed to “treating all road users fairly by ensuring that footways (including pavements) and cycle paths are treated in the same way as the road infrastructure” (P42). By contrast see new guidance on Local transport plans and Major Road Network and Large Local Majors programme. ↩︎
5. See 2023 reports on Active Travel in England by National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee. ↩︎
6. The National Cycling Strategy’s 25th anniversary: Lessons for today. ↩︎
7. Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, DESNZ (2024) ↩︎