Agenda item

Purpose of report: To inform and seek the views of the Select Committee on the new draft Surrey RoadSafe Partnership Road Safety Strategy based on the principles of a ‘Vision Zero’ Safe System approach, including a new policy for 20 mph speed limits.

Witnesses:

Duncan Knox, Road Safety & Sustainable School Travel Manager

Rebecca Harrison, Safer Travel Team Leader

Lucy Monie, Director, Highways and Transport

Paul Millin, Assistant Director, Strategic Transport

Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth

Key Discussions:

1. The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth noted that in Surrey 80% of fatal road incidents took place on 30 mph roads and that reducing speed would reduce fatalities.

2. A Member commended the excellent report and the efforts to reduce deaths by 2050 and efforts to introduce 20mph areas. The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth noted that decision making regarding 20mph areas should be as local as possible and Members had the delegated powers to implement 20mph zones, however resident support must be demonstrated and a blanket 20mph policy was not appropriate in Surrey. The Assistant Director, Strategic Transport emphasised that it was important for residents to back plans for any new 20mph zones in their areas. The Road Safety & Sustainable School Travel Manager noted that the mid-point target of reducing the number of road deaths by half had a target date of 2035 to reflect the fact that the new Surrey RoadSafe strategy would likely be adopted in 2024.

3. The Vice-Chair raised concerns that each road related fatality cost was estimated to cost £2.1m to the community. Delaying the target for reducing road deaths by 5 years (to 2035) would cost Surrey approximately £1 billion. In addition, the new policy required local consultation prior to approval and implementation with the risk that the process was now more complex and difficult to achieve than under the current system. More detail was required on how the consultations would work and what funding was available for introducing 20mph schemes in local areas.

4. The Chairman noted that this topic was an area of interest for the public and asked for an overview from the existing policy and the proposed new policy. The Road Safety & Sustainable School Travel Manager noted that the new policy would make it easier to introduce 20mph speed limits if there were supported by the local Member and their local community. Previously, 20mph limits could only be introduced where the mean speeds were 24mph or less.  Under the new approach 20mph could be introduced with speeds of between 24 and 28mph with ‘light touch’ measures only. Where mean speeds were above 28mph physical traffic calming measures (e.g. speed bumps, road tables, gateway measures, etc) would be required.

5. A Member asked if there were enough resources to meet the demand for new 20mph speed limits. The Assistant Director, Strategic Transport noted that they were waiting for the results from the new road safety strategy and consultation although, intuitively, it is believed that demand might be high.

6. A Member asked how Surrey compared to other counties outside of London on road deaths. The Road Safety & Sustainable School Travel Manager noted that it was difficult to do direct comparisons due to different variables. The Road Safety & Sustainable School Travel Manager noted almost half of the casualties recorded on Surrey’s roads were non-residents. A comparison table of raw numbers of fatalities for Surrey and neighbouring local authorities could be shared with the committee.

7. A Member asked if more flexibility could be given to councillors on how they chose to use their £100,000 Member Allocation, as currently only £30,000 could be used for ITS works such as speed policy reviews and work to support introduction of 20mph. The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth said he was happy for it to be raised to £40,000.

8. A Member asked for clarification on the timeline of the consultation and why 28 mph was the upper threshold for the light touch policy. The Road Safety & Sustainable School Travel Manager said that the consultation would start in January 2024 subject to approval from Cabinet on the 19^th of December. The Light touch threshold was chosen in conjunction with police partners to ensure 20mph schemes would target areas where a reduction is speed would be successful.

9. A Member asked if Vision Zero policy included Surrey’s motorways. The Road Safety & Sustainable School Travel Manager noted that Vision Zero did include motorways as it covered all roads in Surrey.

10. A Member noted that the police had expressed concerns about increased demand for speed limits and how had those concerns had been addressed. The Member also asked if the same local engagement and support required for 20mph zones was required for the Rural Speed Limit Review. The Road Safety & Sustainable School Travel Manager noted that the police had been consulted on the new policy with the aim that new 20mph areas would not require more policing and would work well to reduce casualties and deaths. The Council was working closely with police partners. There were also high levels of public engagement with the Rural Speed Limit Review with policy being made available to local Parish Councils to distribute information locally.

11. The Cabinet Member noted that the budget included an additional £2.5m towards funding road safety/ 20mph schemes. The Chairman suggested that £2.5m might not touch the sides of the likely demand. The Cabinet Member encouraged members to use their local allocations for local schemes.  Bigger schemes would be prioritised from the central £2.5m fund. A member asked for more flexibility in the use of member highways allocations. The Cabinet Member emphasised that the purpose of those funds was repairing and maintaining roads and pavements.

12. Following discussion of the draft recommendations it was resolved that:

RESOLVED:

That the Communities Environment and Highways Select Committee:

1. Notes that Surrey has some of the highest numbers of pedestrian and cycling

road casualties of any local authority in Great Britain and welcomes the draft

Vision Zero Road Safety Strategy aimed at reducing fatal and serious collisions to zero by 2050. Further Welcomes the collaborative approach that has been taken and that the Strategy has been developed in partnership with Surrey Police (including the Police and Crime Commissioner), Surrey Fire and Rescue and National Highway colleagues.

2. Supports the new target for reducing collisions by 50% by 2035 (and to zero by 2050) and the new 20mph policy which allows greater flexibility to implement more 20mph speed limits across Surrey where they are supported locally. Further supports the principles underpinning the new approach including that:

- The focus should be on reducing speeds in town centres, residential areas, village centres and near schools.

- That any new speed limit must be supported by local people and the local County Councillor.

- and that requirements or expectations for additional enforcement by Surrey Police should be carefully managed.

3. Is concerned over the available funding to meet the demand to implement more 20mph speed limits which is likely to be high and asks that further work is done to review and clarify funding arrangements including the funding position for each County Councillor (who will be responsible for making the final decision on whether to proceed with schemes in his/her area under the new policy). This should take account of the Integrated Transport Scheme budget for County Councillors and other available sources. Consideration should be given to granting more flexibility to Councillors on how they choose to use their Members Highways Allocation.

4. Urges further work to clarify the process of local community engagement

including how to determine adequate levels of engagement and support to

approve a scheme plus the process for agreeing schemes with RoadSafe

Partners, and how any conflict will be managed. Expresses concern that the

approach set out might in fact prove more onerous than the existing one,

making 20mph more rather than less difficult to achieve.

5. Asks that clarity on this and the funding position above be bought back to the

Committee in Spring/Summer 2024 following completion of the public

consultation.

Actions/requests for further information:

1. Road Safety & Sustainable School Travel Manager (Duncan Knox) to share graph table of Surrey Road deaths data compared to neighboring counties.