North Yorkshire and York Councils Fail to Improve Active Travel Capability Ratings
Neither North Yorkshire Council (NYC) nor City of York Council (CYC) has improved its Active Travel Capability Rating.
Nine local authorities improved their ratings in 2025, meaning they will receive greater capital funding allocations.
They includes five new Level 3 authorities – Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, South Yorkshire MCA, and West of England CA.
One authority has been downgraded from Level 2 to Level 1 – Tees Valley CA.
NYC and CYC remain at what is in effect the lowest level, Level 1, since there are no Level 0 authorities.
Level 1 is described as:
‘Some local leadership and organisational capability with basic plans and isolated schemes that do not yet form a plan for a coherent network’.
Instead of being granted larger amounts of funding, low-level authorities are given extra training, support and guidance to try to boost their ability to deliver more ambitious schemes.
In a press release, Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman said:
‘We are not just building infrastructure – together, we are creating communities: places where parents feel confident letting children travel independently, and where older people can reach local shops with ease.
We are building life back into our streets’.
Capability Ratings
In a document setting out the new Active Travel Capability Ratings, Chris Boardman explains the thinking behind them.
He says that in areas with strong local leadership, dedicated active travel teams, and well-developed plans, the priority is funding to build routes.
In other areas, the first need is training and technical expertise.
‘The impact of this tailored approach has been remarkable and driven a rapid improvement in quality’.
Anyone who lives in North Yorkshire will doubt that. While Boardman’s job is partly public relations, if his rhetoric is not anchored in reality, he will lose credibility.
The main areas of Active Travel Capability are:
- local leadership
- network planning
- delivery
The ratings are determined by a process in which authorities first complete a self-assessment.
Those councils seeking an increase in their ratings are required to provide designs for up to two recently completed schemes as evidence of what they have delivered on the ground.
Funding
There’s also an announcement about active travel funding as part of integrated and consolidated transport settlements, from 2026-27 to 2029-30.
NYC is to receive:
- £773,253 per year in capital funding
- £242,614 per year in revenue funding
- £3,820,857 in total over 4 years
As I understand it, this will be paid to York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority then distributed to NYC for agreed schemes.