North Yorkshire Council
Environment Executive Members
Bikeability Grant Award 2026-27
27 March 2026
Report of the Assistant Director – Highways and Infrastructure
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 A request for the Corporate Director of Environment to inform the Chief Finance Officer, (sub delegated to the Assistant Director Resources for Environment) and authorises the acceptance of the recurring direct award Bikeability Grant of £181,433 for the financial year 2026-27.
2.0 SUMMARY
2.1 Authorisation to accept a recurring grant offer from Active Travel England (ATE) for delivery of the Bikeability child cycle training programme.
3.0 BACKGROUND
3.1 On 23 December 2024, the Environment Executive Members were informed that the Bikeability tender publication exercise in October 2024 did not result in any bids. It was agreed that officers would continue to pursue a procurement solution. A second market engagement exercise was completed in March 2025, which did not attract any interest.
3.2 It was unlikely that an outsourced contract could be implemented before September 2025. Therefore, it was agreed that delivery would continue until an outsourced contract is implemented. It was also agreed that delivery would continue to be at a cost to the Council.
3.3 Throughout 2025, external funding options were explored with the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
3.4 Discussions with the Active Travel Commissioner for York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority regarding supplementary funding are ongoing.
3.5 On 03 February 2026 the Council received the 2026-27 grant award offer from Active Travel England.
4.0 2026-27 GRANT AWARD OFFER
4.1 Active Travel England have offered £181,433 to deliver 3204 Level 1/2 Bikeability places. This includes the additional grant sum of £2,009 for SEND and inclusion funding. A number of additional grant options were offered in the grant offer letter. Delivery of these additional options is not feasible and will not be taken up due to lack of capacity in the delivery team. The grant per head has been increased from £55 to £56. Active Travel England have confirmed a three-year funding allocation to the Bikeability Trust. Grants offers will remain annual, subject to satisfactory progress towards delivery targets, with a small year on year increase in grant places.
4.2 The amount of grant available is based on the number of places delivered and therefore if less places are delivered, the amount of grant available reduces.
4.3 Total delivery costs for the full year if all places are delivered, would be £293,091 and is funded as follows:
4.3.1 Delivery Costs 3,204 Places - £293,091 (£91.48 per head)
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Funded by: |
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Grant |
£181,433 |
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Cost Recovery from Schools |
£ 43,200 (based on 2,400 paid places) |
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Additional Council Contribution |
£69,000 (based on current commitments) |
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Total |
£293,633 |
4.3.2 This gives a small surplus of £542, assuming the full CPE contribution to the service of £69,000. This surplus reflects a reduction in employers pension contribution costs. The Council contribution would be funded from the Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) Miscellaneous Small Projects budget.
4.4 This is a theoretical maximum contribution based on the full allocation of places delivered over the full finance year. Due to fixed costs, the fewer the places delivered, the higher the cost per head.
5.0 ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED
5.1 Following one tender and two market engagement exercises, there were no submissions. Feedback from these suppliers highlighted the following points as reasons why bids were not submitted:
· the large geographical size and the dispersed nature of the population
· upscaling to such a large contract is not viable
· cost of TUPE considerations
· uncertainty of future funding
· additional funding required to cover additional costs
· unwillingness to deliver to all areas of the county (only the large urban areas).
5.2 It is unlikely that the scheme can be contracted out. Given that, as with the current scheme, a contracted-out service would likely require additional funding from the council, and may not offer the service to all areas, there are few if any benefits associated with this option and is not recommended.
5.3 If the scheme remained in house, schools could be charged the full cost of the shortfall currently supported by CPE contributions. The fee per pupil would need to increase from £18 per head to £36.00. Feedback from schools indicates that this increase would not be affordable and is not recommended.
5.4 Following discussions with the Active Travel Commissioner (ATC) for the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority the following conditions would have to be met to secure funding from that source:
· reduce delivery costs by changing the delivery model (reduce staff)
· remove the cost recovery school fees (This would increase the deficit by £43,200)
· increase the number of annual places delivered.
5.5 The ATC has been informed of the many challenges to increasing participation, summarised below:
· schools prefer to use their funds for other more popular, inclusive activities i.e. football
· fewer children have cycles
· fewer children with cycles wish to participate
· many schools do not allow children to park their cycles on the grounds
· fees have been cited as a barrier.
5.6 In 2024/25, officers reviewed the delivery model and proposed a contracted-out model. However, exhaustive market research has indicated that this model is not a viable option (see 5.1). Potential savings through other alternative models will be investigated and costed.
6.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
6.1 The Agreement for funding to deliver Bikeability Cycle Training for April 2026-March 2027 has been reviewed by Finance. As set out in paragraph 4.3 above, funding from the Council of £69,000 in 2026/27 is required in addition to the grant funding and a proportion of the costs being met by schools. The Council Contribution will be met from Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) Miscellaneous Small Projects budget.
6.2 At present there is no CPE contribution agreed beyond 2026/27, however members should note that a CPE report for 2027/28 and beyond will be submitted by the autumn for Member approval. During 2026/27 the existing service model will need a review of delivery to look at ways of reducing cost and increasing income to cover any service deficit.
7.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
7.1 The Agreement for Funding to Deliver Bikeability Cycle Training April 2026-March 2027 has been reviewed by Legal Services.
7.2 Any expenditure of the grant monies shall be spent in accordance with the Council’s Procurement and Contract Procedure Rules and where relevant the Procurement Act 2023.
8.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
8.1 There are no significant climate change implications arising from this report. The scheme has a positive impact on climate change (Appendix B)
9.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
9.1 There are no significant equalities implications arising from this report (Appendix C).
10.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
10.1 Continuation of the Bikeability child cycle training scheme across North Yorkshire.
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11.0 |
RECOMMENDATIONS
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11.1
11.2 |
That the Corporate Director of Environment inform the Chief Finance Officer (sub- delegated to the Assistant Director Resources for Environment) and authorises the acceptance of the recurring Bikeability Grant of £181,433 for the financial year 2026-27 and note the Council contribution required of £69,000 to be funded from CPE.
That officers pursue alternative delivery models to be implemented by April 2027.
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APPENDICES
Appendix A – North Yorkshire Bikeability Grant Offer Letter
Appendix B – Climate Change Impact Assessment
Appendix C – Equality Impact Assessment
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:
None
Barrie Mason
Assistant Director – Highways and Infrastructure
County Hall
Northallerton
Report Author – Fiona Ancell, Team Leader Road Safety and Active Travel
Presenter of Report – Fiona Ancell, Team Leader Road Safety and Active Travel