Cycle to Work Scheme

[noonoosdad]

I would love to name my Employer but for legal reasons I cannot. Just wanted to say that after just over a year of deliberation they have at last decided to implement a 'Cycle to Work Scheme' for its employees. Unfortunately I will not be able to benefit as I will be retiring from the job in the Autumn.
Anyway, just wanted to say Well Done M********* P***** and about time !

[rbrian]

My company has flat refused to do a Cycle to Work scheme. They only employ 100,000 people, so clearly the payroll people don't have experience with salary sacrifice schemes. Well, other than the half-dozen they have going at the moment... They do let us have a voucher for 15% off bikes at Halfords, though.

[noonoosdad]

It's a pity that other Companies do not see fit to implement the scheme. The advantages for any employer are quite clear. For the past wwo years I have been commuting into work by bicycle and since then (touch wood), apart from High Blood pressure, have not suffered any illnesses i.e. colds etc.. At work I am surrounded by probably the 'sickliest' bunch of individuals one could meet and this is not helped with our rubbish air conditioning system which just seems to circulate all the dreaded lurghis.If all these people did a bit more exercise and got out in the fresh air they would all be better off.
I think its about time the Government 'cranked' this Cycle to Scheme up a notch and drive it in a bit harder.

[gilesjuk]

I'm not too bothered about the bike part, I have 5 bikes. What I really want it a cycle scheme where they build a bike shed and fund the fitting of shower facilities.

[ON2WHEELZ]

I too work for the Govt Dept that employs 100K people. I first enquired about "Cycle to Work" scheme in May 2007. Now nearly 2 years later they have decided it's too complex for them!

A brief enquiry to a provider of bikes to this scheme revealed many Govt Depts such as Police, Fire Service and indeed other Civil Service departments provide this. They are free to use over 300 independant cycle shops. I intend to protest this. It's a bit embarrassing that a large Govt Dept refuses to use the scheme, preferring us to have the "More attractive" option of a "Deeply discounted" 15% from Halfords!

[skiddie]

I'm not too bothered about the bike part, I have 5 bikes. What I really want it a cycle scheme where they build a bike shed and fund the fitting of shower facilities.

While I'm not as well endowed in the bike department, I too am more concerned about making sure that I have somewhere to park my bike once I get it to work than making sure being able to afford a new bike.

[Sares]

We've been working on getting one at my place of work for about 2 years (objections were on health & safety grounds), but it's just been approved!

[pwward]

Sares, I'd be interested to know what the health and safety objections were and who the firm is. I have to do a talk on cycle safety soon (about how it's perceived as dangerous and that is stopping people taking it up) and examples like this would be helpful. I don't intend to nobble the firm in any way.

It's rather ironic, health and safety objections to cycling, considering cyclists have less absenteeism and longer life than non-cyclists. Incidentally the British Medical Journal carried a letter this week from some orthopaedic surgeons in Scotland pointing out hardly any NHS trusts have adopted the cycling to work scheme. (see http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/338/may12_1/b1896)

[stewartpratt]

What I really want it a cycle scheme where they build a bike shed and fund the fitting of shower facilities.

That's a winning idea.

[essexman]

My company has flat refused to do a Cycle to Work scheme. They only employ 100,000 people, so clearly the payroll people don't have experience with salary sacrifice schemes. Well, other than the half-dozen they have going at the moment... They do let us have a voucher for 15% off bikes at Halfords, though.

mine was like that. I wrote emails , made phone calls everything. Then one day out of the blue we started doing it. So it may happen....

[Tony]

One govt dept that won't use the scheme....is HMRC.

[marvinandroid]

and another is DWP - so with HMRC that's around 160,000 civil servants denied access. Laughingly the DWP cited "tax concerns" as its reason. Given it's the government's own scheme a case of left hand, right hand?

[NukeThemAll]

One of the many concerns that companies have about implementing the C2W scheme is that of residual value. As discussed here and elsewhere, the employee buys the bike outright (ie re-pays his/her employer) via the salary sacrifice. Then, the employer **may** allow the employee to purchase the bike for an additional sum of money.

And here, boys and girls, is the problem!

To ensure that there is no Benefit in Kind (BIK) taxation, the employee must purchase the bike for a 'fair market value'. Guess what? If you ask your local HMRC what a 'fair market value' (FMV) is for a bike that's say, 12 months old, they will **not** commit to a figure. So.... let's say your employer allows you to buy the bike for 5% (+VAT) of its original RRP. When HMRC decide to audit the company at some later date, it can decide that, sorry, 5% did not constitute a FMV. So, someone (you? your employer?) has to stump up more money for BIK taxation. Or, of course, 'prove' that 5% or whatever really is a FMV (if you bought a shiny £1K bike, looked after it, would you be happy to sell it after a year for £50?)

So, any company that proceeds with c2W does so at risk, with no hope of having the FMV agreed beforehand by HMRC.

So, no, it wouldn't surprise me if I found out the HMRC hasn't implemented C2W. Joined-up government? Don't make me

And yes, I am aware that both Cyclescheme and Halfords would argue that 'there have been no adverse taxation outcomes to date' but (a) would they be aware? and (b) past performance is no guarantee of future.....

[Romeo Whisky]

Sares, I'd be interested to know what the health and safety objections were and who the firm is. I have to do a talk on cycle safety soon (about how it's perceived as dangerous and that is stopping people taking it up) and examples like this would be helpful. I don't intend to nobble the firm in any way.

It's rather ironic, health and safety objections to cycling, considering cyclists have less absenteeism and longer life than non-cyclists. Incidentally the British Medical Journal carried a letter this week from some orthopaedic surgeons in Scotland pointing out hardly any NHS trusts have adopted the cycling to work scheme. (see http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/338/may12_1/b1896)

Any chance you could cut and paste the original article or at least the executive summary? You need to register to see anything other than the comments, and I am not sure that us mere mortals can do.

I work for an NHS organisation. It looks like we might be getting B2W after about 2 years of asking. Currently held up because of a lack of Union representation on the working comittee. Previously held up because it was a bit complicated for finance. They were however managing to run an essential car users scheme, and we have now found out that they run a B2W scheme for another NHS orgainisation! Hoping for launch in bike week last year, looks like we might get it in time for the clocks going back this year.

I have a pal who is a finance director, and set up the scheme in his company in a day so that he could get a new bike.

[Sares]

This is not the same article as above, but it does have lots of info (and anyone can open it) if your organisation has safety concerns with employees cycling to work. http://www.networks.nhs.uk/uploads/07/1 ... health.pdf