Co-chair of the Walking and Cycling Parliamentary Group says Cycle to Work scheme
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
Fabian Hamilton MP, co-chair of the Walking and Cycling All-Party Parliamentary Group, has said that the Cycle to Work scheme "must be reformed".
Last week, Mr Hamilton met with ACT representatives and heard the concerns retailers had with the Cycle to Work scheme.
Among these concerns were suggestions that the scheme was overly complicated, inconsistent and out of date. However, the chief concern was the fact that individual bike shops were forced to bear the heavy administrative costs of the scheme, whilst third-party providers made healthy profits.
Now, in a statement published on Global Cycling Network, Mr Hamilton has stated that he too believes the Cycle to Work scheme needs to be reformed:
"The current schemes must be reformed so that small businesses are able to take part without operating at a loss. The intermediaries, that are often large corporations, are raking in the profits while small cycling manufacturers and shops suffer."
The intermediaries in Cycle to Work schemes are private businesses that facilitate the scheme for employers.
These providers buy bicycles from bike shops on behalf of participants in the scheme, then rent the bikes to the participants. The administrative cost of this transaction is high, and at the moment, it is lumped almost entirely on the individual bike shops.
The scheme might need reform, but Mr Hamilton makes clear that schemes of this kind are a good thing, saying:
"Schemes that promote cycling are vital to public health and tackling the climate emergency."
Indeed, he sees the bicycle industry as a key part of the "new industrial strategy" that the Labour party is campaigning for at the upcoming general election. He concludes by saying:
"Cycling businesses are integral to this [strategy] and we will make it as easy as possible for them to do business in the UK."