Local councils, not the central government, will be responsible for introducing new road safety measures like 20mph zones and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), according to new transport secretary Louise Haigh.
These schemes have sparked a lot of debate in recent years. However, in a recent interview on the 'Streets Ahead' podcast, Haigh emphasised that she fully supports local authorities in implementing them.
She also made it clear she wants to move away from the "culture wars" started by the previous government, where prominent figures like ex-prime minister Rishi Sunak criticised these initiatives—even though they were initially introduced by a Conservative government. Sunak had even ordered a review of LTNs and promised to block councils from setting up 20mph zones as part of a "pro-motorist" stance.
Sunak previously said, "The vast majority of people in the country use their cars to get around and are dependent on cars,”
"I just want to make sure people know that I'm on their side in supporting them to use their cars to do all the things that matter to them.”
But Haigh argued this approach left many local councils "in limbo and paralysis". She explained, "It's really, really difficult for local authorities when they've not got that air cover from government. And not only did they not have the air cover, they had the government actively working against them saying: 'No, you're not allowed to roll out 20mph zones. No, you're not allowed to roll out LTNs.'
"Those kinds of decisions should absolutely be made at a local level by communities and not dictated to or stoked up by the centre."
Haigh believes "It all has to be done with communities, absolutely, and the worst thing you can do is put the wrong schemes in because then it erodes that support and they can be unsafe in some circumstances."
