Department for Transport criticised as just 1% of staff work on cycling policy

Ministers have been accused of failing to give cycling the priority it deserves after it was revealed just 1% of Department for Transport staff work on biking policy.

Statistics published by the department show there are about 26 members of staff working on cycling initiatives in either a full or part-time capacity.

That equates to 1.2% of the central department's staff.

The figures were released in response to a written parliamentary question tabled by Labour's Ian Austin, who is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group.

He told the Press Association the Government needed to make cycling more of a priority if it is to combat issues such as obesity and urban congestion.

He said: "To see just one in a hundred of the department's staff is a real disappointment, but the proportion of staff roughly equates to how much of their total transport budget is invested in cycling - just 1%.

"We're facing an obesity epidemic, congestion is bringing our city centres to a standstill and we need to improve air quality as well, so it is a great pity that cycling, which would help tackle all these problems, is not being given the priority it deserves."