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Nine per cent rise in use of Cycle to Work Scheme in first three months of 2012

Further growth expected due to major events in 2012 on back of clarification of tax rules for employers

Cycle commuting in Britain is still on the up - that would seem to be the message of new figures that show a nine per cent rise in the numbers of people using the Cycle to Work Scheme to buy bikes in the first three months of 2012 through some of the biggest providers involved in the scheme.

The figures were released by the Cycle to Work Alliance, which said that its members, who include Cyclescheme, Cycle Solutions, Halfords and Evans Cycles, saw 23,400 people sign up to the scheme in a reversal of previous trends which saw uptake suffer due to employers being unclear about tax implications pending clarification from Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

One of the principal aims of the Cycle to Work Alliance when it was founded in 2010 was to lobby against potential changes to the taxation regime surrounding the scheme, under which employees in effect lease bicycles from their employers by means of tax-free salary sacrifice, before making a final payment that sees ownership transferred to them.

The scheme allows them to save up to 42 per cent on the cost of a new bike and associated equipment such as locks, lights, clothing and other accessories.

Guidance issued last year by HMRC regarding tax implications, including VAT, for employers participating in the scheme has led to companies and other organisations becoming more willing to offer it to employees, says the Cycle to Work Alliance, and is one of the main reasons behind the rise in uptake in the first three months of the year.

Other factors include increases in the cost of fuel as well as fares on public transport, encouraging commuters to switch from cars, buses or trains to bicycles for their commute.

Events this summer are expected to give the scheme a further boost, as Keith Scott, a member of the Cycle to Work Alliance and Head of Business Services at Halfords, Britain’s biggest bike retailer, explains.

“The C2W scheme has seen a resurgence at the beginning of the year,” he said. “The Olympics and Summer of Cycling in 2012, will give cycling another significant boost.

“The Alliance is seeing this growing interest in cycling reflected by businesses. Increasingly employers recognise the potential of a healthy and active workforce and they are keen to help their employees cycle to work.

“We hope that backed by continued Government support there will be even greater interest in the scheme and more people commuting to work by bike.”

The Cycle to Work Alliance says that to date, more than 400,000 people have taken advantage of the scheme, with 23,000 workplaces and over 2,200 bike retailers involved.

Further information on the Cycle to Work Alliance can be found on its website.
 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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Roggie | 12 years ago
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Southwark Council were asked a formal question about why they had withdrawn from the scheme:-

http://moderngov.southwark.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=27632

The answer was "The Bikes 4 Work scheme has not been pursued since the government made retrograde changes to the national rules governing the scheme, which gives a
worse deal for cyclists and opens the council up to risks."

If only there was a way to make them reconsider given that many other organisations seem to take a contary view. Any thoughts out there?

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farrell | 12 years ago
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The disappointing thing is that the government seem happy to push the cycle to work scheme on private companies yet seem to have binned it off for many council staff and public sector workers.

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