The Weekend Read: Real progress on Cycling and success from Mondays Infrastructure Bill debate

I was able to speak in the Infrastructure debate and set out my short speech below. I am pleased to say that following representations by myself and others we were able to ensure that the Cycling Strategy passed the Commons.
The Guardian report of the debate is here: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2015/jan/29/amendment-infrastructure-bill-puts-cycling-investment-level-with-roads
The precise wording of the Amendment is set out below. The crucial issue is the amount to be spent as part of a National Budget. There is already significant urban spend - see my speech, the £7 m illion to Newcastle and the successes in London of Boris. But the expectation is of a £10 per person per annual spend on cycling as set out in the debate itself.  

This success is the culmination of a long campaign going back several years:, and my thanks to the many locals in Tynedale who have guided me and helped me along the way, notably Ted Liddle and many others, too numerous to name. 

 

I well remember speaking in support of the All Party Group for Cycling’s efforts to get long term investment and a strategy. See my speech from 2013 here:  http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2013-09-02b.66.0&s=%28cycling%29+speaker%3A24962#g103.1

Mondays speech is set out in detail below, with the actual clause of the Bill set out in full below as well:

8.45pm 26/1/15
Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con): It has been a long struggle for many of us, and I congratulate hon. Members of all parties on instituting, bringing forward and finally getting Government agreement on the cycling strategy, which I shall briefly address.

We have spoken in various debates over many years to get where we are, but as with all the best cycling strategies, if we stick at it and power on through, the destination is always worth the journey. I congratulate the various cycling groups behind the campaign. Speaking as someone who cycles to work here in Westminster and at home in the great county of Northumberland, I say that whether it be off road in Kielder or taking the highways and the byways, this is without a shadow of a doubt one of our finest assets.

This decision by the Government, and the reaching of cross-party agreement on it, will definitely be welcomed in Northumberland. There is a tremendous desire there for a cycling strategy. We have looked enviously at the city of Newcastle, which has enjoyed £6 million to £7 million of cycling investment. That is wonderful for Newcastle, but has been somewhat to the disadvantage of us in Northumberland. While we now have an integrated strategy, I genuinely feel that there is an opportunity for our constituents to get the cycling strategy that they so enthusiastically require.

Locals have already prepared strategies for Hexham, Prudhoe and other towns in Tynedale and Castle Morpeth. I am pleased to say that Northumberland county council has at last got into gear, and it needs to pitch to the Government for the funding; otherwise the cycling groups in my area will definitely be disappointed and potentially left behind. That is not something that anybody wants.

Let me finish by saying that
- I do not believe we can improve tourism without a cycling strategy;
- I do not think we can improve our health, the obesity problem and pollution without a cycling strategy;
- I do not believe we can improve the cost of living that is an issue for so many people without a cycling strategy;
- and I certainly think we could do great things to improve the quality of life if we had such a strategy."

The amendment that passed is here:
 

 NEW CLAUSE 13 - CYCLING AND WALKING INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

 (1) The Secretary of State may at any time—

(a) set a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy for England, or

(b) vary a Strategy which has already been set.

(2) A Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy is to relate to such period as the Secretary of State considers appropriate; but a Strategy for a period of more than five years must be reviewed at least once every five years.

(3) A Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy must specify—

(a) objectives to be achieved during the period to which it relates, and

(b) the financial resources to be made available by the Secretary of State for the purpose of achieving those objectives.

(4) The objectives to be achieved may include—

(a) activities to be performed;

(b) results to be achieved;

(c) standards to be met.

(5) Before setting or varying a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy the Secretary of State must consult such persons as he or she considers appropriate.

(6) In considering whether to vary a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy the Secretary of State must have regard to the desirability of maintaining certainty and stability in respect of Cycling and Walking Investment Strategies.

(7) A Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy must be published in such manner as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(8) Where a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy has been published the Secretary of State must from time to time lay before Parliament a report on progress towards meeting its objectives.

(9) If a Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy is not currently in place, the Secretary of State must—

(a) lay before Parliament a report explaining why a Strategy has not been set, and

(b) set a Strategy as soon as may be reasonably practicable.”

My hope is that very soon we will doing what my friend and Conservative colleague, and fellow cyclist, Boris Johnson, is doing in London: see here -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-30993893

 

Tour de France starts in Leeds next Saturday - get excited: http://letour.yorkshire.com/

Only 5 days to go until we all go Cycling Crazy! Very excited about the coming Tour. Full details here:
http://letour.yorkshire.com/
Key dates:
Saturday 5 July - Leeds to Harrogate
Sunday July 6 - York to Sheffield
Monday July 7 - Cambridge to London

Trains, and the odd bike too

The reshuffles will have an impact on all of these departments but most significant for the North is the change in the Labour front bench in relation to HS2 / The North South Rail link. Originally proposed by the Labour government and adopted by the Coalition this is still a project that needs our support. But big infrastructure projects only go ahead if they are apolitical [see Olympics, Crossrail, HS1 and M25] and I have great nervousness that the demotion of Maria Eagle from the Shadow Transport Brief means the Labour party is getting ready for the right moment to pour cold water on the ‘north-south line’.
Her replacement Mary Creagh has today been repeating the Ed Balls line about there being a question about whether this is "the best use of money" and "no blank cheques". I am strong in my view that we need to stick together on this project. All Labour activists should be making the case to their MPs that this needs our support.
As to cycling I am hopeful to get an early visit to the North East from Robert Goodwill, who is the trains and cycling Minister.

Speech in cycling debate

8.14pm
Guy Opperman (Hexham, Conservative)

Who knew, ladies and gentlemen, that this debate was sponsored by the Dutch tourism board? Many of us seem to have taken a Dutch cycling holiday. I am here to stand up for cycling in Northumberland, which features everything from Hadrian’s cycleway and the coast-to-coast tour to the delights of Kielder and the castles cycle route. I congratulate wholeheartedly the cross-party group, which has done a fantastic job—this is probably one of the finest Back-Bench debates that we have ever had.

My hon. Friend Dr Huppert, Ian Austin, my hon. Friend Dr Wollaston and other members of the all-party parliamentary group have done a brilliant job and produced a fantastic report. I need to declare the fact that I cycle to work in London. I can cycle from Fulham, where I live, to King’s Cross, pretty much all on a cycleway. It is much quicker than going by car. In Northumberland, I live near Stamfordham, where we see more bicycles than cars travelling around and about. There is no question but that the Northumberland economy depends to a large degree on cycling tourism and the economic benefit that it brings. I therefore support the motion wholeheartedly, but while cities such as Newcastle have benefited from over £5 million, the benefit to some rural areas, whether Northumberland or other counties, is significantly less. We need equality of funding across all parts of the country so that we may all benefit, rather than simply the towns that have been allocated money thus far.

Duncan Hames (Chippenham, Liberal Democrat)
Like the hon. Gentleman, I welcome the report to get Britain cycling. He is right about rural areas. Does he agree that we need innovative solutions to help to provide opportunities to make it easier to cycle in rural areas, such as the two tunnels greenway in Bath, from which many of my constituents benefit, and the canal towpaths that run through my constituency? Otherwise, hedge-lined country roads between towns can be quite intimidating.

Guy Opperman (Hexham, Conservative)
I endorse that entirely. Indeed, when I asked my constituents for their comments, one of them, Ted Liddle, wrote on behalf of the mountain biking club:
“Other than a few parking stands, in Tynedale, there has been no cycling investment in the past 10 to 12 years."
There are exceptions, but if we do not have innovative ways forward and local cycling champions we will struggle. I endorse earlier comments about the fact that we need individual Borises or cycling champions in some shape or form who champion cycling in their counties and regions. It is easy, given that Yorkshire has the benefit of the Tour de France next year, to make the case. Everyone in the north welcomes that.

Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton, Conservative)
My hon. Friend has discussed the need for cycle routes in rural areas. We do not have the luxury of going along the embankment to create the Boris highway. We have to make sure that we have cycle routes such as old railway lines and so on that can be used successfully. We are working on precisely that on the Seaton to Colyford route. However, I very much welcome the debate so that we can have cycling in rural areas.

Guy Opperman (Hexham, Conservative)
Indeed. Not only that, but this debate is making converts. Our hon. Friend, the eminent colonel from Beckenham, has assured the House that he will get back on his bike, which I am confident is not a penny farthing.

Bob Stewart (Beckenham, Conservative)
To the best of my memory, it has pneumatic tyres and a chain.

Guy Opperman (Hexham, Conservative)
The mind boggles: to know is to fear.
Those of us who are students of the film industry will hark back to the comment, “If you build it, they will come.” That is the case in relation to cycling. It is easy for too many civil servants, Ministers of all types, local authorities, county and parish councils to think that investment in cycling is not worth the money, the effort, the criticism by drivers and pedestrians and the sheer difficulty of persuading people to get out of their beloved vehicles. However, if we build the type of facilities that we all require in our local areas, cycling improves. We need only look at the success of places such as Seville, as eloquently set out in the report, where between 2007 and 2010, cycling went up from 6,000 journeys to 60,000 journeys. We need only look at the changes in New York or Holland, sponsored as we are by the Dutch tourism board, where 27% of journeys are by bike, compared with 2% in this country. That is patently the result of investment, support and local champions.

I suggest we look at the health benefits. Many have outlined the fact that we have an obesity crisis, and a great deal more work needs to be done on that. We should look at the benefits in terms of the cost of living, and we need to consider both the climate change and the tourism and economic benefits. I emphasise the need for local champions—not just the local larger champion of a county, but individual parish and county councillors who could make a difference locally. If we can start doing that and start working with health and wellbeing boards and the like, there is great potential to turn the topic from a fringe issue that we passionately debate to a mainstream way of life and way of travelling to work.
Full debate here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2013-09-02a.66.0&s=speaker%3A24962#g103.1

Just finished #GetBritainCycling debate. About to cycle home along the Thames to Fulham

A genuinely brilliant cross party debate led by MPs of different backgrounds, but all passionate about getting more people cycling. Particular praise to my liberal colleague Julian Huppert. I will update with the transcipt of the debate, and my speech, in more detail tomorrow but it did seem that the debate was sponsored by the Dutch Cycling and Tourism Board, so great was all our enthusiasm for the Dutch approach to cycling and cycle proofing.
In Holland they massively outspend us on cycling and have 27% of journeys by bike. Here it is 2%.
My thanks to all the constituents who wrote in with suggestions and comments. I featured them where I could in my speech and will follow up on all of them.