TIGHTENING budgets could soon lead major cuts to programmes designed to teach young people vital road safety skills, a new report has revealed.

The next few years will see a 50 per cent cut in council funding for road safety programmes in schools and a scheme to get more young people more active through walking and cycling.

“Alternative sources” of funding for these schemes may now have to be found for them to continue.

Bradford Council’s Environment and Waste Management Scrutiny Committee will discuss the upcoming cuts at a meeting on Tuesday.

They will hear the successes of the schemes, delivered through a partnership between Public Health and the council’s Highways and Transport Department, and how cuts could lead to them being massively scaled back.

A report to the committee reveals that in the next financial year (2018/19) funding for the road safety team will be cut by £62,500. This will be followed by a further cut of the same amount the following year.

And the Active Schools Travel Programme, which gets young people to live a more healthy lifestyle by promoting walking and cycling, will be cut by £28,000 in 18/19, and £28,000 in 19/20.

It adds: “Without sourcing extra finance, the cuts could result in the down sizing of the Road Safety Team and the Active School Travel Programme.

“If the shortfall is not sourced, there is a risk to delivery around education, training and publicity to more vulnerable groups in areas of high risk, given there is a link between casualty levels and deprivation.”

Simon D’Vali, Chairman of the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership, said: “We are looking at alternative sources of funding including the Safer Roads element of the Single Transport Plan and commissioning body, the West Yorkshire Safer Roads Executive.

“Applications will also be made to the Government for any funding streams that become available.”

Councillor Simon Cooke, Conservative Leader on the Council, feels road safety funding needed to be more transparent, adding: “It is becoming increasingly hard to determine where the decisions to fund which schemes are made. We hear of huge amounts of money coming from speed cameras and bus lane cameras, and this money could be invested in making our roads safer.”

The committee meets at 5.30pm in City Hall.