PRESS RELEASE

Court of Appeal to rule on Treasury cuts to cycling and walking funding

Tomorrow the Court of Appeal is due to issue its judgment on the lawfulness of Treasury cuts to the cycling and walking budget. The full judgment is expected to be available before noon on Tuesday, 10 June 2025 [1]. Transport Action Network [2], which brought the legal challenge, will be issuing an immediate response.

With the judgment coming the day before the Spending Review, the case raises important questions of principle about the ability of Parliament to constrain funding decisions. For many years, cycling and walking were seen as an afterthought and could only rely on piecemeal funding. In 2015 the Infrastructure Act tried to change that, giving them the same status as railways and roads, requiring stable funding and regularly updated strategies [3]. Public Health England welcomed this key shift, saying it “should have large implications for enabling people to travel in more physically active ways for short journeys”.

The last plan, announced in 2022, said that investing in pavements and cycle tracks was “one of the best return on investment decisions governments can make” that would be “saving our NHS billions of pounds each year” [4]. Following a last minute intervention by the Treasury in March 2023, dedicated funding was cut by £200 million. The resulting lack of stability of funding was criticised by the National Audit Office [5] and the Public Accounts Committee.

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Notes to editors:

[1] The judgement will be handed down at 11am on Tuesday, 10 June, 2025 by email to the parties, according to the Royal Courts of Justice Daily Cause List – 9 June, 2025.

[2] TAN helps communities press for better (more sustainable) transport, such as more investment in bus and rail services and active travel. To enable this and better roads maintenance (fewer potholes) we continue to oppose the previous government’s damaging roads programme. We also support better integration between transport and planning.

[3] The second cycling and walking investment strategy was published in July 2022, pursuant to the Infrastructure Act 2015.

[4] Public Accounts Committee: Active travel: Government programme off-track as funding reductions hold back progress, 3 November 2023.

[5] National Audit Office: Active Travel in England (Value for money report), 7 June 2023.

[6] More information about the case including the legal papers is available: Walking and cycling legal challenge – Transport Action Network.

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