Ministers consider curbs on councils’ use of
20mph speed limits
Exclusive: moves against what PM terms ‘anti-motorist’
policies follow order of review into low-traffic neighbourhoods
Peter
Walker Deputy political editor
@peterwalker99
Sun 30 Jul
2023 19.46 BST
Ministers
are considering restrictions on councils’ ability to impose 20mph speed limits
as part of a new shift against green policies and traffic schemes, a stance
condemned by safety and travel groups as shortsighted and divisive.
The
Guardian has been told the push against what Rishi Sunak has termed “anti-motorist”
policies could be extended to find ways to stop local authorities taking other
measures, such as installing bus gates, that have been used routinely for
decades.
The prime
minister has already ordered a review of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) in
the wake of this month’s Uxbridge byelection, where an unexpected narrow
Conservative win was helped by concerns about the Labour mayor Sadiq Khan’s
expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez).
It is now
understood that other plans are being considered which could limit councils’
powers to impose 20mph zones and other measures.
While Sunak
ordered the review into LTNs, No 10 said the prime minister had no plans to act
on 20mph limits, something that could prove notably more contentious. The Department
for Transport (DfT) said it could not comment.
The safety
benefits of 20mph limits to pedestrians and cyclists have led to their use on
many urban streets, with the Labour-run Welsh government announcing last year
that it would become the default limit for built-up areas.
The charity
RoadPeace, which helps people who have been bereaved or seriously hurt in
traffic crashes, said it would urge ministers to maintain support for the
limit. Nick Simmons, its chief executive, said: “Our members are only too
familiar with the devastating effect that speed has on road crashes and would
be extremely disappointed to see roads made demonstrably less safe.”
Such a move
would mark another recent shift away from environmental priorities since the
Uxbridge result, with the prime minister saying last week he could delay or
ditch policies that imposed a direct cost on households, such as the move to
replace domestic boilers with heat pumps.
In a tweet
on Sunday picturing the prime minister behind the wheel of Margaret Thatcher’s
old Rover, Sunak was explicit in his attempt to create a political wedge issue,
calling LTNs “anti-car schemes”.
It came
after an interview with the Sunday Telegraph in which Sunak labelled Labour as
anti-driver and presented himself by contrast as someone who was on the side of
voters “in supporting them to use their cars to do all the things that matter
to them”.
Such an
approach brings political risks, with research and polling suggesting that
LTNs, which promote walking and cycling by filtering local streets so motor
vehicles can access them but not as cut-throughs, are generally effective and
popular.
A fairly routine
approach to traffic management that has been used for decades, LTNs have become
something of a culture war issue in parts of the media since Boris Johnson’s
government rebranded them amid a push to build more of them during the Covid
pandemic.
Ministers
would face legal and logistical hurdles if they were to impose controls on
local traffic schemes. Councils can build LTNs under their own powers, granted
under the 1984 Road Traffic Regulation Act, meaning that an absolute block on
them would most probably require new legislation – a high bar for a largely
niche issue that directly affects very few voters.
The DfT,
ordered by Sunak to carry out the review, does not even have a definition of
what constitutes an LTN. While the DfT has said it will no longer fund new
ones, similar plans have been supported subsequently but under different names
such as “traffic management schemes”.
One
councillor who has overseen the installation of LTNs called the DfT review
“entirely performative, with no chance of changing anything”. Another called it
“centralisation gone mad”.
No 10 and
the DfT declined to give any details of the review’s scope or process, saying
these would be “set out in due course”. One source said the plan had been
sprung on the department with minimal warning and virtually no guidance on how
it should work.
It is
unknown whether the plan is to seek the removal of all LTNs, even those that
have been in place for long periods, or just those installed since 2020, when
Johnson’s government provided £200m for more to be created.
Louise
Haigh, the shadow transport secretary, said it was “pure hypocrisy” for a Tory
government to condemn a policy the party had introduced, and she condemned
meddling in local decision-making.
“Measures
to improve road safety around schools and in residential streets are often
demanded by local communities themselves,” she said. “That’s why these are
decisions for local authorities and must be done with proper consultation and
taking onboard the concerns of communities.”
With the
Conservatives consistently trailing Labour by 20-plus points in polls, No 10
has indicated that Sunak will take a more personal and aggressive campaigning
stance. He is under pressure after the Uxbridge result to roll back on green
and net zero policies, which has created alarm among environmental groups.
On Sunday,
a group of 43 Tory MPs and peers who are sceptical about the government’s net
zero targets wrote to Sunak asking him to delay the 2030 timetable for ending
the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, something he again ruled out in the
interview with the Sunday Telegraph.
Sunak is
also pushing back against Labour’s policy of banning any new North Sea gas and
oil projects. On Monday he is due to visit Aberdeenshire to announce funding
for a new carbon-capture project in Scotland.
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