North Yorkshire Council

 

Environment Executive Members

 

02 June 2026

 

Acceptance of Grants for Active Travel Schemes

 

Report of the Assistant Director – Highways and Infrastructure

 

1.0       PURPOSE OF REPORT

 

1.1       Request approval from the Executive Member for Highways and Transportation in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance and the Corporate Director Resources to accept the following four grants from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA)

i.           £498,875 from the Mayoral Active Travel Fund (MATF) for the Skipton Towpath Upgrade

ii.         £237,600 from the Safer Routes to School Fund for School Streets Support

iii.        £198,154 from the Active Travel Pot for the Skipton Accessibility Package

iv.        £346,653 from the Improvement Pot for the Minor Schemes Package

 

2.0         BACKGROUND

 

2.1         North Yorkshire Council (NYC) submitted four bids to the MATF on 27 February 2026 totalling £1,281,282. The bids submitted were for the following schemes:

i.           Skipton Canal Towpath Upgrade

ii.         School Streets Support

iii.        Skipton Accessibility Package

iv.        Minor Schemes Package,

 

2.2         Full details for these schemes can be found in the Mayoral Active Travel Fund – Submission of schemes report from 27 February 2026.

 

2.3         NYC has received notification from YNYCA that all the schemes within the bid will be funded, however, only one will be funded directly from the MATF. The other three bids are to be funded from other funding pots provided by YNYCA.

 

3.0         GRANTS AND SCHEMES

 

3.1         The original terms of the MATF were that a minimum of 10% match funding had to be supplied for schemes to be eligible. All grant amounts are assumed to be 90% of the projected scheme costs.

 

Skipton Canal Towpath Upgrade

3.2         Grant funding of £498,875 from the Mayoral Active Travel Fund will enable the delivery of the Skipton Canal Towpath Upgrade.

 

3.3         As NYC has received notification of award of funding, grant funding will be transferred to NYC, and the scheme needs to be delivered in full by January 2028.

 

3.4         Match funding will be provided from NYC Local Transport Grant in order to ensure full delivery of the scheme.

 

School Streets Support

3.5         Grant funding of £237,600 from the Safer Routes to School Fund will enable the delivery of the School Streets Support scheme.

 

3.6         It is assumed that match funding will be a requirement of the grant funding and therefore this will be provided from Transport Planning’s revenue budget in order to ensure full delivery of the scheme.

 

Skipton Accessibility Package

3.7         Grant funding of £198,154 from the Mayor’s Active Travel Pot will enable the delivery of the Skipton Accessibility Package.

 

3.8         It is assumed that match funding will be a requirement of the grant funding and therefore this will be provided from the NYC Local Transport Grant in order to ensure full delivery of the scheme.

 

Minor Schemes Package

3.9         Grant funding of £346,652 from the Mayor’s Improvement Pot will enable the delivery of the Skipton Accessibility Package.

 

3.10       It is assumed that match funding will be a requirement of the grant funding and therefore this will be provided from S106 funding in order to ensure full delivery of the scheme.

 

4.0         LOCAL MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

 

4.1         Local member engagement was undertaken prior to submitting the bid for the MATF and therefore no further engagement has been undertaken. All members consulted were supportive of the schemes within their respective areas.

 

5.0         CONTRIBUTION TO COUNCIL PRIORITIES

 

5.1         The NYC ‘Council Plan 2024-2028’ sets out the priorities for the next four years. One such priority is to ‘promote and encourage active travel including walking, wheeling and cycling’. The schemes within this bid align with this priority and are expected to increase walking, wheeling and cycling.

 

5.2         North Yorkshire Council’s Local Transport Plan (2016–2045) sets out the long-term vision for a transport system that supports the county’s health, environment and accessibility objectives. The LTP highlights the importance of reducing the negative impacts of transport on the environment and public health, including issues linked to air quality, and identifies improving access to essential services and enabling more sustainable travel choices as core priorities. Through its strategic objectives and approach to transport planning, the LTP provides a foundation for encouraging healthier, lower-impact travel across the county.

 

5.3         The YNYCA Strategic Transport Framework commits to ensuring that active travel is a core part of an integrated transport network. In the long term this means a comprehensive network of lit, well-maintained walking, wheeling and cycle routes across the Combined Authority. The schemes within this bid will improve walking, wheeling and cycling routes across North Yorkshire.

 

6.0         ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

 

6.1       NYC could reject the funding offers and not progress these schemes any further, however, as a funding route to deliver improvements for local communities has been offered by YNYCA, officers advise that this is not a good option.

 

6.2         NYC could utilise other transport funding to deliver the schemes, however, this would divert funds away from other schemes. Accepting external funding grants allows NYC, as the local highways authority, to deliver further improvements within the publicly maintainable highway without reducing its existing improvement and maintenance program.

 

7.0         FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

7.1       During the application to the MATF, NYC committed funds to meet the match funding requirement of the grant. The grants supplied will be for the ask laid out within MATF and that match funding will be supplied by NYC in line with the bid. NYC submitted bids for four schemes totalling £1,496,954 with a total ask to the YNYCA for £1,281,282. Costs for schemes include preliminary fees, delivery costs, contingency, and optimism bias where relevant.

 

7.2         The schemes put forward were at various stages of development, however, the figures quoted for delivery reflect all the costs needed to deliver the schemes. The breakdown of the costs is shown in Table 2 below.

 

Table 2 - Scheme Cost Breakdown

Scheme

Cost

Prelims

Contingency

Optimism

Bias

Total

Cost

MATF

Ask

Match  

Funding

Required

Minor

Scheme

Package

£363,746

£45,110

£22,555

£27,066

£458,477

£346,653

£111,824

Skipton

Accessibility

Package

£155,050

£31,010

£15,505

£18,606

£220,171

£198,154

£22,017

School

Streets

Support

£240,000

£0

£24,000

£0

£264,000

£237,600

£26,400

Skipton

Canal

Towpath

Upgrade

£367,979

£63,937

---

£122,390 

£554,306

£498,875

£55,431

Totals

£1,496,954

£1,281,282

£215,672

 

 

 

7.3         An optimism bias of 23% was applied to the base cost inclusive of preliminaries for the Minor Schemes Package and Skipton Accessibility Package. This uplift reflects the potential for cost increases associated with scheme delivery and is consistent with standard practice at this stage of development.

 

7.4         An optimism bias was not applied to the ANPR School Streets Support scheme, as the cost estimates have been based on evidence from recent procurements of identical equipment.

 

 

 

7.5         A higher optimism bias of 35% was applied to the Skipton Canal Towpath Upgrade scheme. This uplift reflects the potential for cost increases during scheme delivery and aligns with standard practice at this early stage, when cost estimates are considered to be of order‑of‑magnitude accuracy. However, there is increased confidence in the cost estimates for this scheme, as they have been independently prepared by both the Canal & River Trust’s Cost Intelligence team and NYC’s consultants using the North Yorkshire Highways schedule of rates. The two estimates are almost identical, providing assurance of their robustness. Additional contingency is considered unnecessary given the high optimism bias applied.

 

7.6         A contingency allowance of 10% was included for the Minor Scheme Package, Skipton Accessibility Package and School Streets Support to account for unforeseen risks and unexpected costs that are not captured within the base budget. This level of contingency is typical for schemes of this nature that have a low to medium risk profile.

 

7.7         Preliminary costs were not included for ANPR School Street Support as the scheme does not involve the construction of infrastructure. Preliminary costs have been set at 20% for all other schemes. This is consistent with previous schemes delivered through North Yorkshire Highways, however, should a more cost-effective procurement route become available, NYC will look to pursue that option. 

 

7.8         The match funding requirement for each scheme will be met through various sources as detailed in Table 3 below:

 

Table 3 – Scheme Funding Sources

Scheme

Total Cost

MATF Ask

Match Funding Required

Source

Minor Scheme Package

£458,477

£346,653

£111,824

S106

Skipton Accessibility Package

£220,171

£198,154

£22,017

Local Transport Grant

School Streets Support

£264,000

£237,600

£26,400

Capability/CATF Revenue

Skipton Canal Towpath Upgrade

£554,306

£498,875

£55,431

Local Transport Grant

 

7.9         The schemes are a mix of revenue and capital schemes. This information is displayed in Table 1 below:

 

Table 1 – Scheme Funding Type

Scheme

Revenue/Capital

Minor Scheme Package

Capital

Skipton Accessibility Package

Capital

School Streets Support

Revenue

Skipton Canal Towpath Upgrade

Capital

 

7.10     The risk of any cost overrun is with NYC, which is mitigated through the contingency/optimism bias included in the scheme budgets. Should costs on one of the capital schemes overrun, NYC would look to utilise the Local Transport Plan Grant (LTP) allocation to support delivery, in discussion with YNYCA.  Alternatively, schemes could be scaled back to fit the funding envelope.

 

7.11       In the event of a scheme coming in under a budget, a conversation will take place with YNYCA to discuss whether additional schemes can be delivered.

 

7.12       The improvements contained within the Skipton Accessibility Package and Minor Scheme Package will be adopted into the NYC Highways Maintenance Programme. Skipton Towpath Upgrade will have no long-term financial implications from maintenance as the upgraded towpath will be maintained by the Canal & Rivers Trust. The School Street Support Package is a self-funding model. High level revenue estimates from fines generated from those who violate the traffic regulations indicate that operational costs should be covered in full.

 

8.0         LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

8.1         In order to accept the funding, NYC will be required to enter into formal grant agreements with YNYCA. The terms of the grant agreements are not yet available, however, once they are available, Legal Services will review the agreements. Should any term present an unacceptable level of risk, the grant offer will be declined.

 

8.2         Any expenditure of the Grants will be in accordance with the Council’s Procurement and Contract Procedure Rules and to the extent applicable, the Procurement Act 2023, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

 

9.0         EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

 

9.1         Consideration has been given to the potential for any equality impacts arising from the recommendations. It is the view of officers that at this stage the recommendations do not have an adverse impact on any of the protected characteristics identified in the Equalities Act 2010. A copy of the Equality Impact Assessment screening form is attached as Appendix A.

 

10.0       CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS

 

10.1       A climate change impact assessment has been carried out and can be viewed in Appendix B. As with all capital projects carbon emissions are directly generated from construction, however this must be considered alongside the impacts of maintenance and the opportunity for carbon reduction arising from modal shift to sustainable transport modes.

 

11.0       REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

 

11.1       The acceptance of these grants will ensure that work on transport schemes and their delivery can continue and achieve positive outcomes for our communities.

 

12.0

 

12.1

RECOMMENDATION

 

It is recommended that the Executive Member for Highways and Transport, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance and Corporate Director Resources Accept grant funding of:

 

 

i.           £498,875 from the Mayoral Active Travel Fund (MATF)

ii.          £237,600 from the Safer Routes to School Fund

iii.         £198,154 from the Active Travel Pot

iv.         £346,653 from the Improvement Pot.

 

 

 

 

APPENDICES:

Appendix A – Equality Impact Assessment Initial Screening Form

Appendix B – Climate Change Impact Assessment Initial Screening Form

 

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:

None

 

 

27/02/2026 Executive Report - Mayoral Active Travel Fund – Submission of schemes

 

 

Barrie Mason

Assistant Director – Highways and Infrastructure

County Hall

Northallerton

27 May 2026

 

 

Report Author – Nathan Harding, Transport Planning Officer (Projects)

Presenter of Report – Louise Anne Neale, Team Leader Transport Planning