{"id":268540,"date":"2025-11-17T21:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/268540\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T21:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:59:08","slug":"government-faces-backlash-from-cycling-industry-over-mooted-cap-on-cycle-to-work-purchases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/268540\/","title":{"rendered":"Government faces backlash from cycling industry over mooted cap on Cycle to Work purchases"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Thursday, the Financial Times broke the story of the Government\u2019s potential cap on Cycle to Work purchases, quoting a Government source as stating that \u201ctaxpayers shouldn\u2019t be footing the bill for luxury leisure\u201d. Since then, there\u2019s been widespread criticism of the rumoured change.<\/p>\n

Labour MP Fabian Hamilton, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on cycling and walking, was quoted in a follow-up article in the\u00a0Financial Times on Saturday as saying that \u201ca crude cap would land on the wrong users\u201d.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s FT also quoted Will Butler-Adams, chief executive of Brompton, who stated that putting a barrier between working people and the innumerable benefits of cycling<\/a> felt short-sighted.<\/p>\n

\"TrekFully Charged says the value of a typical electric cargo bike purchase is \u00a34,000. Trek<\/p>\n

Additionally, the FT talked to specialist retailers of electric bikes, with Dan Parsons of Fully Charged pointing out that none of its bikes retail for under \u00a32,000 and that its average transaction price for an electric cargo bike<\/a>, allowing a family to replace a car to transport children, is \u00a34,000.<\/p>\n

Parsons noted that take-up of the Cycle to Work scheme<\/a> isn’t confined to London and the home counties, and that it’s a popular choice to fund bike purchases at Fully Charged\u2019s other stores, including its latest opening in Cornwall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bike industry wades in
\n\"WomanAdapted bikes are made in small volumes and are often expensive. Vicky Balfour <\/p>\n

There\u2019s also been comment from cycling bodies, including Cycling UK and the Cycle to Work Alliance.<\/p>\n

Cycling UK\u2019s director of external affairs, Sarah McMonagle, points to the return on investment from Cycle to Work: \u201cWhile capping the scheme may sound like a sensible way for Ministers to save money, in reality, it will cost the government a lot more. For every \u00a31 spent on the Cycle to Work scheme, we see over \u00a34 in returns: boosting productivity, reducing sick days, and saving households money.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the popularity of ebikes and cargo bikes soaring, supporting these trends is not just good for individuals, but for the economy as a whole. Any proposal to cap the scheme must consider people who require higher-cost cycles, such as cargo bikes or assisted cycles for disabled people,\u201d she continues.<\/p>\n

\"RibbleThe abolition of the \u00a31,000 cap put electric bikes within range of Cycle to Work purchases. Ribble<\/p>\n

Cycle to Work Alliance chair, Steve Edgell, points to the increased range of bikes now available through Cycle to Work, following the abolition of the previous cap.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2019 a spending cap of \u00a31,000 was abolished, as it was preventing people from being able to access the equipment they needed for everyday commutes. By effectively excluding e-bikes and adapted cycles<\/a> from the scheme, the cap discriminated against older people and those with disabilities,\u201d he states.<\/p>\n

\"\"Luxury leisure \u2013 and with zero VAT. <\/p>\n

Commenting on LinkedIn, former Cyclingnews editor, Peter Stuart, points to the zero VAT rating of aircraft seats: \u201cFuel duty exemptions for aviation fuel mean private jet passengers pay the lowest tax per tonne of CO\u2082 of anyone in the sky. That, to me, sounds a lot like \u2018taxpayers footing the bill for luxury leisure\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last Thursday, the Financial Times broke the story of the Government\u2019s potential cap on Cycle to Work purchases,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-268540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}