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£15m boost for cycling

The government announced early last week that an extra £15m is to be spent over the next three years on the Cycling England initiative - in a bid to persuade parents to abandon the school run and encourage their children to cycle to school.

The money will be used to provide cycling lessons for 100,000 children, and more cycle lanes linked to schools. The extra money will mean that a total of £30m will be spent on the initiative over the next three years.

Phillip Darnton, chairman of Cycling England, said the new commitment to cycling represented 'a tremendous opportunity'.

"It will underpin Cycling England's determination to ensure that in the long term every child has the opportunity to learn and enjoy safe cycling before they leave primary school," he said.

Speaking on behalf of LARSOA, Steve Whitehouse, Sefton Council's principal travel awareness and safety officer, said:

"LARSOA welcomes this extra support, which recognises the importance good quality training plays in improving the safety of children on the roads.

"RSOs have been responsible for the vast majority of training during the last 25 years and LARSOA has played a pivotal part in the development and introduction of the new national standards and their part in school travel plans."

For the full story go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5115906.stm

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