Walking: Children
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities consider (a) lighting and (b) personal safety when assessing walking routes to school in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Department for Transport
This government provides a range of guidance to local authorities on lighting and personal safety for walking routes, set out in Local Transport Note (1/20), the Rural Design Guide, and other documents produced by the Department for Transport and Active Travel England (ATE).
ATE is working to develop a new Supplementary Planning Advice Note on Designing for Active School Journeys. This will highlight consideration around personal safety, including the perception of safety for women and girls, and around access points and auditing routes to schools.
ATE’s Route Check Tool, developed to support authorities in assessing the design quality of active travel schemes, includes specific metrics relating to lighting coverage, visibility, user safety, and minimising light pollution.
As noted in ATE’s delivery plan Worth Every Step, ATE will provide a school’s support package for local authorities, including a new safe routes to school programme.
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