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8 May 2025

ACT parent company Bira has welcomed the Bank of England's decision to reduce interest rates from 4.5% to 4.25%, calling it a "much-needed boost" for the retail sector, including for cycling...

8 May 2025

ACT parent company Bira has responded to the news that the 144-year-old Beales department store is staging a "Rachel Reeves Closing Down Sale" in its final weeks of trading, with giant yellow...

2 May 2025

Could the UK cycling industry be showing signs of renewed momentum? Following a challenging period marked by falling sales and overstocked inventories, overall trends and sales figures from...

2 May 2025

The Netherlands is set to legalise electric scooters and other light electric vehicles on public roads from July 2025, provided they are registered and display a license plate.

30 Apr 2025

The ACT has welcomed the announcement of a parliamentary inquiry into e-bike products not meeting safety regulations, which has been launched “in context of dangerous low-quality e-bike...

29 Apr 2025

Edinburgh has been named the UK’s top city for bike commuting, with 10.00% of its workforce choosing to cycle to work, according to new research.

28 Apr 2025

The Labour Government’s new Employment Rights Bill is set to be in force this year and the new regulations will impact high street retailers up and down the country.

25 Apr 2025

ACT parent company Bira welcomes the Chancellor's announcement of plans to create a level playing field for British businesses against unfair international trade practices.

15 Apr 2025

Retail Crime Remains Alarming - Bira's Latest Survey Reveals Urgent Need for Action

11 Apr 2025

Bira has cautiously welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement this week on plans to put 'thousands of Bobbies back on the Beat' with a new neighbourhood policing guarantee.

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Funding axed for school cycling proficiency scheme in Northern Ireland

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

A course that teaches children how to ride bicycles safely in Northern Ireland schools in no longer affordable - according to the government department that pays for it.

Cycling proficiency

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI), which is responsible for cycling proficiency in Northern Ireland, has said it cannot fund the safety course.

Cycling proficiency, sometimes called 'bikeability', is taught in many UK schools - It teaches children, who can already ride a bike, how to do so more safely; including what protective gear to wear and the rules of the road.

Instead, schools in Northern Ireland will have to pay cycling instructors themselves if they want to continue the scheme.

Speaking to the BBC in Northern Ireland, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said it has spending restrictions which means it cannot keep paying instructors or schoolteachers to deliver the cycling lessons.

And schools, who were planning to run cycling proficiency classes between Easter and the end of the school year, have been told that those courses will no longer be paid for by the DfI either.

The scheme teaches children who can already ride a bike how to cycle safely.

The department said: "The cycling proficiency scheme is delivered by teaching staff in schools, who receive payment from the department for doing so."

"Due to budget constraints, we are not currently in a position to fund this payment to teachers."

Despite saying it would no longer fund the courses and instructors, The DfI has said it will continue to provide training for teachers wanting to deliver cycling safety lessons themselves.

The cycling proficiency course involves 12 weeks of lessons and is aimed at children in the older years of primary school.

The scheme has been running in schools in Northern Ireland for more than 50 years, training more than half a million children during that time.

School headteachers have until Friday 21 April to inform the department if they plan to continue to run cycling proficiency classes before the end of the 2022/23 school year.

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