North Yorkshire Council has been awarded £1,626,310 from the Active Travel Fund, the DfT announced yesterday.
The funding is for two financial years:
- £369,709 from Active Travel Fund 5 for 2024/25 and
- £1.256 million from the Consolidated Active Travel Fund for 2025/26
As a result of English devolution, York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority will make active travel bids and receive money from now on. The 2025/26 money will be paid to the Combined Authority once financial assurance is in place, rather than to North Yorkshire Council.
This is part of a total funding pot for councils in England of around £300 million.
Some areas did much better than North Yorkshire. For example:
- Greater Manchester is to receive £5.1 million for 2024/25 and £15.7 million for 2025/26, and
- West Yorkshire Combined Authority is to get £4.2 million for 2024/25 and £12.9 million for 2025/26
How Will North Yorkshire’s Money Be Spent?
We don’t know how North Yorkshire’s money will be spent.
North Yorkshire Council did not bid for it for specific projects. Instead, it was awarded directly by Active Travel England.
The focus for the 2024/25 money is early delivery of benefits to local communities from low complexity schemes.