decision

R(Transport Action Network) v Secretary of State for Transport (Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy) - decision

R(Transport Action Network) v Secretary of State for Transport (Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy) - Other

Filing Year For Action

On June 6, 2023, Transport Action Network (“TAN”), an NGO whose objectives include helping local authorities accelerate modal shift to sustainable travel, issued a public law challenge to a statement made by the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament. The statement, communicated to Parliament on March 9, 2023, required Parliament to reduce funding for active travel by two-thirds of what was previously set under the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy for England (Infrastructure Act 2015, section 21) ("CWIS2"). 

TAN argued that, by making ad hoc announcements, the Secretary tried to unlawfully bypass its duty under the CWIS2 framework set by Parliament. More specifically, TAN claimed that the funding cut creates a stark and inevitable inconsistency between CWIS2's active travel objectives and the funding available to achieve them. According to TAN, this consequently impacts the goal of CWIS2's active travel, including reducing air pollution and meeting the government's climate ambitions.

Initially, in July 2023, Justice Lang of the High Court refused permission for the claim to proceed. On October 26, 2023, however, Justice Jay granted permission to apply for judicial review at an oral permission hearing.

On November 6, 2024, Justice Kerr of the High Court ruled in favor of the Secretary and dismissed TAN's application for judicial review, finding that although CWIS2 requires the Secretary to set an Investment Strategy that specifies "the financial resources to be made available ... for the purpose of achieving [CWIS2's] objectives," estimates or projections of available resources, not "ring-fenced spending commitments" are sufficient to meet this requirement. Justice Kerr agreed with the Co-director for Local Transport in the Department of Transport and explained that CWIS2 cannot be read as requiring a "rigid adherence to a costed programme of works and projects," considering that the amount to be spent on a particular project "may depend on the outcome of a competition for funding" and that the Secretary's political accountability is secured by periodic reporting to Parliament.

On June 10, 2025, however, Lady Justice Elisabeth Liang, also writing on behalf of Lord Justice Holgate and Lord Justice Dingemans, reversed the High Court's judgment, granting TAN's appeal. Justice Liang held that the word "specify" used in CWIS2 indicates that the Secretary "must say, or specify, in the strategy the ‘resources to be made available’ by him," although this does not impose a duty to "do" anything other than "specify." She further explained that "[CWIS2], correctly interpreted, does not prevent the Secretary of State from changing his mind about what to spend . . . . What it prevents is a change to what is required to be, and has been specified, [without the Secretary's compliance] with the procedure for varying the strategy." Based on the lack of evidence supporting the Secretary's consultation to subsection (6) in varying the strategy, the Court found that the Secretary failed to comply with the procedure for variation.

R(Transport Action Network) v Secretary of State for Transport (Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy)

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

Direct investments by the governments using public funds. This can be to support climate initiatives or integrate climate into other projects.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

R(Transport Action Network) v Secretary of State for Transport (Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy) - decision

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance