Get Britain Cycling report secures Parliamentary debate in September

The Get Britain Cycling report will be debated in the main chamber of the House of Commons on 2 September 2013, it has been confirmed.

Confirmation a debate wll be held comes a little more than three weeks after Dr Julian Huppert, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group (APPCG), which held the six-week inquiry earlier this year that culminated in publication of the report in April, was told the Backbench Business Committee was "supportive" of his request for a debate on the issue.

At that point, around 70,000 people had signed a petition asking for the report to be debated in Parliament - still 30,000 short of the 100,000 signatures that would have been required for the Backbench Business Committee to consider whether a debate should be held.

The lobbying by Dr Huppert, MP for Cambridge, reneders the petition academic, although it does show the strength of support for the report's recommendations.

The report calls for:

• 10 per cent of all journeys to be made by bicycle by bicycle by 2025 rising to 25 per cent by 2050

• Government funding for cycling should start at a minimum of £10 per head

• Cycling should be considered at an earlier stage in all planning decisions, whether transport schemes or new houses or businesses

• More use should be made of segregated cycle lanes, learning from the Dutch experience

• Urban speed limits should generally be reduced to 20 mph

• Just as children learn to swim at school, they should learn to ride a bike

• The Government should produce a detailed cross-departmental Cycling Action Plan, with annual progress reports.