5 www.bikebiz.com


MINUTES WITH... Simon Cox chats with Joanna Flint, Marketing Director at Green Commute Initiative.


We’ve seen the government talking about changes to the C2W initiative: What are your thoughts? What would you like to see happen? Although we talk about the C2W scheme, there is no such thing; only legislation which allows an employer to offer the use of a bicycle as a tax- free benefit in kind. Providers like GCI have set up individual processes which enable what we call the scheme by understanding HMRC guidance, employment and consumer credit law and making sure their process complies with all of these complex requirements. So, it’s hard to see a simple change being able to encompass all of the excluded groups. Employers also provide vital functions like funding the scheme for the employee and vetting the applicant,


ensuring they are a genuine employee. Apart from minimum wage employees, other groups don’t have an employer, and so somehow an equivalent needs to be found. Thus, it seems clear that complementary schemes aimed at the other groups are required to get more people cycling. GCI put forward a new scheme proposal to Simon Lightwood MP to make cycling cheaper for those who are unable to benefit from the existing C2W scheme, namely, NMW employees, unemployed people and pensioners. Our proposal set out a mechanism where


cycles can be made rapidly available to those excluded groups with zero administration


overhead to the Government. Unfortunately, it was not pursued. June 2025 | 25


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