Sometimes, the most popular article on our site is a bit of a surprise, or out of left field. Last week, there was no surprise; the most read piece was about proposed reforms to the Cycle to Work scheme.
For those new here, or not in the UK, Cycle to Work allows people to save tax on new bikes by ‘loaning’ them from their employers, allowing prospective cyclists to save up to 42% on the cost of a full price bike, with payments automatically deducted from their salary. For example, a £2,000 bike for someone on £26,000 a year would end up as £1580, paid for in monthly instalments. It’s a very nifty way to get a bike cheaper, if you’re lucky enough to have an employer who uses the scheme. It’s also a great way of getting people on bikes, which can only be a good thing.
However, change is coming. The reforms are just reported proposals at this stage, ahead of next week’s Budget, but the short version is that some kind of financial cap appears to be coming for Cycle to Work. This, frankly, would be a mistake.
News editor at Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly thoughts on the goings on at the upper echelons of our sport. This piece is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. As ever, email adam.becket@futurenet.com – should you wish to add anything, or suggest a topic.
The Treasury probably sees the tax it misses out on bikes as a loss that needs to be stopped, but this is the classic short-term thinking that brought you cuts to HS2. The benefits from encouraging people to cycle, and to buy bikes, far outweigh the costs of the tax the exchequer doesn’t get, a drop in the ocean really.
More bikes mean more people cycling, something that creates a net benefit for the economy in the long-term due to having a healthier, more productive population that is less reliant on the NHS. More cyclists also results in fewer cars on the road so less congestion and less air pollution, something necessary if we are to successfully turn back the tide of the climate crisis. None of this is novel, or news to you, I’m sure, but it apparently is news to the people who run our country.
A move to limit the amount spent on Cycle to Work would be regressive. The original £1,000 limit was abolished in 2019, and not before time, given the cost of bikes now. It’s not just top-of-the-range racers that cost thousands, but mid-range…