Transport Sec Ken Skates 'putting Welsh voices first' over 20mph
Ken Skates announces a three phase plan giving communities some control over where the 20mph speed limit will be in place
Wales' Transport Secretary Ken Skates says the Welsh Government will 'listen to the people of Wales' as they announced changes to their approach for the 20mph default speed limit.
In his first statement as Transport Secretary, Skates announced a national listening program, where communities will be asked where 20mph does and does not work.
The three phase plan includes:
- Listening to community voices, from citizens to frontline workers to get their perspectives on road safety where they live.
- Community members getting in touch with their local councils to tell them where they feel 20mph is and isn't working. The Welsh Government are also revising their guidance on how this will work in partnership with local councils.
- Once new guidelines are finalised, local councils will then begin the process of adjusting speed limits.
Councils across Wales have had the power to change speed limits since the 20mph roll out in September 2023, but the Cabinet Secretary said clearer guidelines were needed to empower councils to make those changes.
In a statement, the Transport Secretary said:
“We’ve started by listening. I have been clear in all my conversations that we will put communities at the heart of our thinking and will listen to people.
“As I have already said there is growing consensus on safe speeds in communities that we can build from. We continue to believe 20mph is the right speed limit in places such as near schools, hospitals, nurseries, community centres, play areas and in built-up residential areas.
“The principal objective of the policy is to save lives and reduce casualties on our roads. What I am doing now is listening to what people want for the roads in their communities, and pressing ahead with refining the policy and getting the right speed on the right roads. .”
The Welsh Conservatives have called for the 20mph speed limit to be unanimously rescinded since the rollout and, in reaction to these changes, Natasha Asghar, Shadow Transport Minister, said:
“All of Labour’s talk of change on their flawed 20mph speed limit was sadly just a comms exercise which has consequently made people from all corners of Wales believe that their roads will be going back to 30mph.
“The bottom line is that after all of Labour’s talk about listening to the Welsh people, the default speed limit across Wales will remain 20mph. Nothing has changed to everyone inside and outside of Wales.
The changes are expected to come into force in September