Putting saving lives before politics

Speech to Senedd on 25th September 2024

Llywydd, a year on I think it’s fair to say that the 20mph policy has been much criticised, but it is a policy that is succeeding in achieving its objectives.

The data so far shows that 

• average speeds are down, as we said they would

• Collisions on all roads are their lowest since the Covid lockdowns 

• Casualties are down by 32% - which is the single most effective road safety intervention that has been made

• And lives have been saved - six fewer deaths in the first six months compared to the year before

The Conservatives say the policy has been disastrous.

I think these are results we can be proud of. 

That’s the difference.

Has our approach been perfect? No it has not.

I commend the Cabinet Secretary for all his work in the last 6 months to engage with communities to apply common sense where it is needed.

Once that process is complete I hope the police can start to enforce those areas where speeds are not coming down, and we can all get behind the message that on streets where people and traffic mix it should be a little bit slower, but it is a whole lot better.

The Tories say the 20mph speed limit legislation should be scrapped. But it’s their alternative plan that I’m interested in.

The Conservatives say they support 20mph “on roads where there is large pedestrian activity, such as outside busy places of worship, schools, playgrounds and high streets… hospitals, or places where other vulnerable road users may be encountered.'

They call that a common sense approach. 

And they say the approach that ⅔ of Senedd members supported are ‘draconian’ and ‘barmy’.

So let's compare them

• The Tories say it should be 20mph outside hospitals; our guidance says 20mph should apply within 100m Hospitals 

• The Tories favour 20mph outside Schools and playgrounds; the guidance says 20mph should apply within 100m any educational setting  

• The Tories support 20mph on High Streets; the guidance says we expect streets within 100m of retail premises to be 20mph.

• The Tories want 20mph outside places of worship and places where other vulnerable road users may be encountered 

• Our current guidance says 20 mph is appropriate close to community centres (which includes churches) and within 100m of residential premises 

So what is the actual difference between the changes we have made, which the Tories call a barmy blanket ban? 

There is no difference of substance.

The difference is purely about politics. In fact it’s purely about opportunism.

Support for 20mph in this chamber started with a Conservative. It was David Melding who did the running originally, with the support of Tory colleagues.

When we brought the report of the expert taskforce to this Senedd, which recommended we take a default speed limit approach, it had the support of the Tory leader at that time and the bulk of Tory MSs

It was only when they sensed an opportunity to turn this into a wedge issue that they changed position. 

They now say they want to scrap the law that has resulted in a 32% fall in casualties.

All the signs which they said we wasted money on putting up, they want pulled down. 

The legal orders that Councils have worked hard to put in place should be ripped up.

And instead of having one simple process to cover a whole area, they want to see a brand new legal order for every street.

The Tory policy would require a new Traffic Regulation Order for every road where there is a:.

• School 

• Hospital

• A place of worship, 

• playgrounds 

• high streets

• And places where other vulnerable road users may be encountered 

Each of these legal orders would have to be drafted afresh, each one consulted on, and each one passed through a separate process.

And Llywydd bear in mind these Traffic Regulation Orders cost some £15,000 each. 

And they say we’re the ones wasting money!

Far from a bonfire of regulations, their common sense approach is a confetti-cannon of red tape splurged across Wales.  

And all this to implement a policy that is very similar to the one we have implemented. 

In truth there is no significant difference of approach from our policy and their policy. 

The real difference is that we have put saving lives before politics. 

The real difference is that we have not set out to confuse or mislead.

The real difference is that we have not been dishonest or demonstrated ‘moral turpitude’, which the Senedd Standards Commissioner has charged the Conservative Transport spokesperson with.

And the real difference is that because of our approach casualties are down by 32%

That this Christmas there will be families who get to sit together around a dinner table that would not have been able to if the Tories had succeeded in blocking the change. 

That’s the difference.