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06
Nov
Mayor’s office defends spending £500,000 on cycling fund consultants
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority has defended its decision to spend £500,000 of a new £4 million active travel fund on consultants.
The combined authority, which is led by Labour mayor David Skaith, announced last month the fund would “promote healthier travel that is accessible”. It is expected to open for applications in January.
But North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative leader Carl Les refused to back the initiative, as reported here by the Stray Ferret last week.
Cllr Les said he agreed with the concept of active travel, but the fund should be administered by the council.
We asked the combined authority why it needed to hire consultants, why they would cost £500,000 — 12.5% of the entire value of the fund — and what the consultants’ role would include.
A spokesperson replied that it “does not currently have existing in-house resources to administer the fund”.
They added:
Therefore external support is being brought in to help administer, support applicants and monitor progress along the journey of the fund.
The stated figure is an estimated cost based on similar work to support delivery of other combined authority mayoral investment funds. The cost of the active travel commissioner, whose role covers a wide range of activities to promote and deliver more walking, wheeling and cycling across the region, is included in this.
The spokesperson said the procurement process for consultants had not yet begun.
They added:
“We are currently working on a specification and cost for procurement for third-party engagement. This will be published on our website in due course.”
Who can apply?
Of the fund’s remaining £3.5 million, £2.4 million is ringfenced for large projects of between £100,000 and £500,000 run by public bodies.
Another £1 million will go to small projects of between £10,000 and £100,000 and the remaining £100,000 will pay for “additional highway officer resource”.
Replying to Cllr Les, Mr Skaith questioned North Yorkshire Council’s ability to deliver cycling schemes and referred to its low rating from Active Travel England.
The mayor announced plans to hire an active travel commissioner in November last year but, 12 months on, an appointment has not been named.
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