Sustrans grant restrictions: FOI review

Information requested

You asked for a review of the request you made under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

In your original request (10 March 2023) you asked to see what restrictions were placed on Sustrans on the use of the grant monies awarded to Sustrans by Transport Scotland.

In our response to you of 20 April, we set out the categories of funding and an explanation of how these funds may be used, signposting to further information within the Sustrans Annual Report you referred to.

You wrote on 25 April 2023 requesting a review and advising that you had asked to know in what way it was restricted, and that the response did not help you to understand this.

Response

I have concluded that a different decision should be substituted, with further information describing the specific restrictions on the grant funding set out further below.

I can confirm that the grant monies payable to Sustrans are restricted in that they can only be spent on fulfilling the projects that meet the objectives and outcomes of the grant, which are set out in the Grant Letter. I have set out the conditions that appear in the Grant Letters for Sustrans' Behaviour Change and Infrastructure programmes for 2022-23 at the bottom of this letter. 

I do hope that this helps answer your queries and please accept my apologies that our initial response did not answer your question fully.

Below are the conditions as set out in the Places for Everyone and Infrastructure grant offer letter for 2022-23:

2. Purposes of the Grant
2.1 The Grant is made to enable the Grantee to carry out the Programme.
2.2 The Grant shall only be used for the purposes of the Project and for no other purpose whatsoever.
2.3 No part of the Grant shall be used to fund any activity or material which is party political in intention, use, or presentation or appears to be designed to affect support for a political party.
2.4 The main objectives/expected outcomes of the Grant are:

• Making our towns and cities greener, healthier and safer spaces for people on foot and bike.
• Ensuring that the benefits of walking, wheeling and cycling are made available to everyone.
• Engaging communities to ensure that their needs are met.
• Reducing inequalities.

The main objectives/expected outcomes of the Grant will reflect the cross-sector benefits that Active Travel can bring and support the strategic outcomes of the Active Travel Vision, as well as the outcomes of the Active Travel Outcomes Framework, NTS2, the Climate Change Plan, the National Walking Strategy, Cycling by Design, the Place Principle, the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government and Sustrans’ own Strategy. It will also ensure Fair Work principles in line with the Fairer Scotland Duty and the Fair Work First Framework, and align and contribute to national outcomes from Scotland’s National Performance Framework (specifically the Communities, Environment, Poverty, Health and Human Rights outcomes).

Below are the conditions as set out in the Behaviour Change grant offer letter for 2022-23:

2. Purposes of the Grant
2.1 The Grant is made to enable the Grantee to carry out the Project/Programme.
2.2 The Grant shall only be used for the purposes of the Project/Programme and for no other purpose whatsoever.
2.3 No part of the Grant shall be used to fund any activity or material which is party political in intention, use, or presentation or appears to be designed to affect support for a political party.
2.4 The main objectives/expected outcomes of the Grant are:

• to support communities and community organisations, with a focus on SIMD areas but not exclusively, to develop more positive attitudes towards active travel and increase levels of walking, wheeling and cycling for everyday journeys, reflecting the NTS2 transport hierarchy to be as inclusive as possible and help ensure accessibility to active travel for people of all abilities.
• to promote the use of E-cargo bikes and develop a model for dissemination across Scotland.
• to support pupils, parents and carers, students and teachers to travel by foot, scooter and bike to their place of learning, promoting safer, happier and healthier communities.
• to create a culture where staff are able, supported and motivated to travel actively and sustainably to/from, and within, their place of work, by working in partnership with a range of public and private sector employers, including NHS sites
• to provide strategic communications on all Transport Scotland-funded programmes managed by Sustrans Scotland. Provide traditional media, online and social media content promoting the benefits of active travel to the general public and other stakeholders in Scotland.
• to align your work with other active travel partners’ activities to complement and add value to the schools programme, communities offer and training.
• increase the uptake of active and sustainable travel in line with the Active Travel Framework, NTS2, the Climate Change Plan and the Place Principle. Ensure Fair Work principles in line with the Fairer Scotland Duty and the Fair Work First Framework.
• align and contribute to the active travel outcomes and national outcomes from Scotland’s National Performance Framework. Specifically the Communities, Environment, Poverty, Health and Human Rights outcomes.

These outcomes reflect the cross-sector benefits that Active Travel can bring and support the strategic objectives and outcomes of the Active Travel Outcomes Framework, NTS2, the National Walking Strategy, the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.