British Cycling has welcomed the funding package for cycling, but has said that it doesn’t go far enough if we want to get Britain cycling at the levels seen in countries like Holland and Denmark.

Transport Minister Norman Baker will deliver a ministerial statement about the funding later today. The funding package was trailed in this morning’s Times newspaper.

British Cycling’s Director for Policy and Legal Affairs, Martin Gibbs, said:

“We welcome this development and it’s a credit to Norman Baker that he is securing this increased funding for cycling infrastructure - but what we need is long term, sustained investment and a strategy to put cycling at the heart of transport policy. The total funding package works out at less than £1 pound per head of the population. The Dutch spend £25 pounds per head per year and have been doing so for decades. Cycling is now part of their culture with 43% of people in Amsterdam cycling to work. We need to match that level of funding to get Britain cycling.”

Julian Huppert, Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group said: "This investment gives cities the opportunity to start making improvements to their streets for cyclists. It means that they can start putting in place some of the safety measures that will allow cyclists to be confident when riding through our cities and encourage more people to join them. This is a step in the right direction; now we need year-on-year investment so that eventually our cities can match the best in Europe for cyclists.”