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15
Dec
North Yorkshire Council among worst performing local authorities for active travel — again
North Yorkshire Council has once again been ranked among the worst performing local authorities for active travel, according to the government.
The Conservative council received a mark of one out of four in the latest capability ratings by Active Travel England.
It was the joint lowest rating of all local authorities in England and Wales and the same score that the council received last year.
Active Travel England, the government body responsible for walking, wheeling and cycling, introduced capability ratings to assess each authority’s ability to plan, design and deliver active travel schemes.
It uses the results to calculate multi-year funding allocations for local authorities.
Of 80 local authorities assessed, 39 were rated level one, 30 were rated level two and 11 were rated level three. None were rated either zero or four.
According to the level descriptors, level one indicates “some local leadership and organisational capability with basic plans and isolated schemes that do not yet form a plan for a coherent network”.
Active Travel England’s Local Authority Active Travel Capability Ratings 2025, published last week, says:
Ratings also allow us to track authority capability over time, so we can target support and funding to where it is needed most and to ensure for value for money. It also fosters competition and collaboration between authorities to help drive up standards.
Cllr Hannah Gostlow.
‘Wake-up call’
Councillor Hannah Gostlow, a Liberal Democrat who represents Knaresborough East on the council, said the rating was a “wake-up call” to North Yorkshire Council.
Cllr Gostlow added:
A repeated level one rating means North Yorkshire is standing still, and that has real consequences for residents. While other areas secure millions of pounds for safer streets and better transport, North Yorkshire risks being left behind.
For most people, this isn’t about whether they cycle. It’s about safety and choice. Parents regularly tell me they won’t let their children walk or cycle to school because the roads don’t feel safe. That’s something we must take seriously.
When councils fail to invest in safe alternatives, the result is more cars on the road, worsening congestion and poorer air quality.
She added Liberal Democrat councillors in Harrogate and Knaresborough were calling for an urgent meeting with Rhiannon Letman-Wade, who was named as York and North Yorkshire’s first active travel commissioner last month by Labour mayor David Skaith, to discuss the rating.
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