MINISTERS have been accused of failing to give cycling the priority it deserves after it was revealed just one per cent of Department for Transport staff work on biking policy.
Statistics published by the department show there are about 26 members of staff working on cycling initiatives in either a full or part-time capacity.
That equates to 1.2 per cent of the central department's staff.
The figures were released in response to a written parliamentary question tabled by Labour's Ian Austin, who is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group.
He told the Press Association the Government needed to make cycling more of a priority if it is to combat issues such as obesity and urban congestion.
He said: "To see just one in a hundred of the department's staff is a real disappointment, but the proportion of staff roughly equates to how much of their total transport budget is invested in cycling - just 1%.
"We're facing an obesity epidemic, congestion is bringing our city centres to a standstill and we need to improve air quality as well, so it is a great pity that cycling, which would help tackle all these problems, is not being given the priority it deserves."
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