Senedd to vote on scrapping 20mph default speed limit
Emily Price
The Senedd will vote on scrapping Wales’ 20mph default speed limit this week following a debate that marks one year from its roll out.
The motion, brought forward by the Welsh Conservatives, calls for the controversial road regulation to be repealed with support given to local authorities for a targeted approach instead.
The £34m policy was introduced on restricted roads in Wales in September last year.
It saw most roads that were 30mph switch to 20mph – although councils have discretion to impose exemptions.
A record breaking Senedd petition calling for it to be reversed racked up almost half a million signatures following fierce public backlash.
The Welsh Government says that cutting the limit to 20mph will protect lives and save the NHS in Wales £92m a year.
The Tories say it will cost the Welsh economy £9bn.
‘Disastrous ‘
Ahead of the debate on Wednesday (September 25) , Shadow Transport Minister Natasha Asghar said: “One year on from Labour’s disastrous 20mph rollout and the Welsh Government still refuse to listen to the Welsh public.
“The only common-sense approach would be to follow what the Welsh Conservatives have said since day one, scrap the 20mph scheme and only have it in heavily pedestrianised areas.
“In the Senedd this week, I look forward to bringing forward our Welsh Conservative debate calling on the Welsh Government to scrap the 20mph speed limit for good.”
The Welsh Conservatives has made several unsuccessful attempts over the past year to have the 20mph default speed limit reversed.
They also led an unsuccessful no confidence vote in Lee Waters, the minister who led the introduction of the speed limit.
Mr Waters stepped down from the role in March and spent the summer in Australia advising ministers there on transport policy.
Exempted
In May, the new Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport, Ken Skates called for people across Wales to give feedback to local authorities to let them know which roads should be exempted so that 20mph is better targeted.
The Welsh Government also worked with all 22 local authorities to prepare the ground for changes to the guidance on which local roads can be exempted from the limit.
Data on Police reported road collisions published earlier this month showed a reduction in road casualties on 20mph and 30mph roads combined of 19% compared with the previous quarter and 26% lower than the same quarter in 2023.
These are lowest recorded figures apart from during the Covid pandemic.
377 casualties were reported on 20mph and 30mph roads combined between January and March compared with 463 casualties in the previous quarter.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The principal objective of the policy is to save lives and reduce casualties on our roads. We always said that the policy would need refinement to get the right speeds on the right roads and our listening programme alongside the publication of new guidance co-produced with local authorities is helping us do that.
“The latest police road collision data shows that collisions on 20mph and 30mph roads combined are the lowest recorded figures outside of the Covid pandemic with additional data published earlier this year illustrating an average drop in speeds of 4mph – from 28.9mph to 24.8mph. So, we know things are moving in the right direction.”
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Please stop calling it DEFAULT – it isn’t. Why join in with the anti form of retoric.
Or, it could be called brain-washing.
About time, get rid of it.
Please don’t do that, knee jerk reactions to badly implemented schemes don’t pay any dividends…
There has not been enough thought into how you can reward the majority of drivers for sticking to the revised limits. Roads that are 20, and where drivers stck to 20 should have speed humps removed, maybe progressively, or even one at a time and locally publicisied. Some parking restrictions removed that were in place to allow movement of vehicles at a higher speed that is now the norm. Pull the 20 limits in closer to the actual urban setting. None of these changes has to cost very much and can be spread over a number of years but little… Read more »
Get rid of it now.. remember 2026 is looming.
Yeah, Tory gonna put you at risk and cost millions to revert. So, higher costs and real pain is their aim?
The Conservatives want to “scrap the 20mph scheme and only have it in heavily pedestrianised areas”. Do they have a definition of a “heavily pedestrianised area”? What I’ve see of the 20mph roads in Wales most appear to be already in “heavily pedestrianised areas”.