16 July 2024 , Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport: Transport update
Our national listening programme on 20 mph has proved to be an incredibly valuable undertaking. Since April, I’ve personally met with a wide range of the people and communities that we serve: older people, people living with … course, elected representatives, including Members of this Senedd. I've also visited communities to see for myself how 20 mph has been implemented on the ground and to engage with local residents directly. Some of those conversations have …
22 May 2024 , Plenary
Debate on petition P-06-1407, 'We want the Welsh Government to rescind and remove the disastrous 20mph law'
… cannot change your mind easily. And some of my constituents who live on roads that used to be 20 mph discovered they didn't want them to go back to 30 mph , which they hadn't been for … decades. Pre the 20 mph default limit, I regularly travelled around Swansea and found I needed to drive at no more than 20 mph on estate roads, when most are effectively single lanes with passing points in between …
24 February 2026 , Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
… the greater decrease in fatalities and serious injuries is as a result of the policy to ensure that 20 mph lower speed levels can actually save and do save lives and reduce casualties. And the picture, in terms … the last decade. The latest statistics show that this downward trend is continuing, comparing collisions and casualties to 20 mph and 30 mph before and after the introduction of the 20 mph policy. The latest data shows collisions …
24 January 2024 , Plenary
Topical Questions
Well, before the 20 mph default, there were an awful lot of 20 mph roads in Swansea. There were also 20 mph roads in other areas. And, as you know, Presiding Officer, there was a 20 mph speed … good idea because it's quite a dangerous road to cross. But we've also got estate roads— 20 mph on estate roads works well. I don't think anybody reasonably would think that on estate roads—. Although …
27 September 2023 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Deputy Minister for Climate Change
… cannot increase it to 30 mph on this road—it would not be safe.' A default limit of 20 mph should not be a problem. It has only become a problem because of the highly restrictive guidance from … know the area and the roads, to decide the speed limit on each road. Most will remain at 20 mph , but—[Interruption.] I can't. Some will return to 30 mph . If residents disagree with the local authority …
28 June 2023 , Plenary
Debate on petition P-06-1340, 'Stop the change of speed limits to 20mph on 17th September'
… signatures on this petition shows the enormity of opposition to the blanket reduction in speed to 20 mph on all urban roads in Wales. It highlights in my mind how out of touch the Welsh Government really … Wales. I think I speak for the majority of this country when I recognise the benefits of having 20 mph speed limits in certain areas, such as around schools and in densely populated areas. I can fully appreciate …
13 September 2023 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: The Restricted Roads (20 mph Speed Limit) (Wales) Order 2022
… believe it or not: if this allegedly cash-strapped Government wants to free up some cash, scrapping the 20 mph scheme and other vanity projects would be a very good place for you all to get started. Residents … the summer, I spoke to a retained firefighter who's genuinely, seriously worried about the impact that this 20 mph speed limit will have on him being able to get to the fire station in time when …
28 June 2023 , Plenary
Debate on petition P-06-1340, 'Stop the change of speed limits to 20mph on 17th September'
… Buckley, Flintshire, selected by the Welsh Government as one of eight pilot areas to trial a default 20 mph speed limit, which had reached 58,546 signatures by lunchtime today, including 84 added just this morning. This reflects … extremely limited discretion. Labour councillors have told me that. He ignored all research challenging his claim the default 20 mph speed limit will reduce casualties. In pursuit, as we've heard, of evidence-based road safety policies, the …
28 June 2023 , Plenary
Debate on petition P-06-1340, 'Stop the change of speed limits to 20mph on 17th September'
… take place before the change. It's worth noting from the outset that the change to the default 20 mph limit has become one of the leading issues for petitions since I became Chair of the committee. Twenty … three petitions have been created with ' 20 mph ' in the title during this Senedd term; 17 of those have received the three names they need to progress to collecting signatures. Some have been local petitions, objecting …
30 September 2026 , Plenary
Reform UK Debate: Default 20 mph speed limit
… national starting point, and local judgment can be exercised where it does not apply. Whatever else is said, 20 mph is not a blanket, and it never was. Some councils have judicially applied that flexibility immediately, and there … often as the word itself. The first is journey times. Transport for Wales found that reducing speeds to 20 mph results in an average increase of about one minute per journey. One minute. That ties in well …
16 September 2024 , Petitions Committee
New Petitions
… who have very moderate opinions about nearly everything else in life but have very strong views on the 20 mph policy. I think it's fair to say that I can think, and I'm sure other members … this committee can think, of local examples where we cannot understand why a certain road is 20 mph , but I'm sure many of us would also agree that roads should be 20 mph in certain locations, such …
17 April 2024 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Transport
… shock to anyone in the Chamber that, on this note, I am going to start with the default 20 mph speed limit policy. Cabinet Secretary, it was incredibly positive to hear your priority when it comes to the … 20 mph policy, and that is that you are going to be listening. I was also pleased to hear that you have reached out to leading protesters, in fact, the leading protesters of the 20 mph groups …
16 September 2026 , Plenary
Short Debate: Congestion isn't inevitable: How the Welsh Government and Cardiff Council can improve the lives of motorists in Cardiff and the surrounding regions
… built, where we learnt how business has grown in that city as a result of that investment. On 20 mph , I'll say two things—three things. Vast swathes of Cardiff were already 20 mph before the … blanket' introduction came into force. We, in Cardiff Labour, stood on a platform three times to introduce more 20 mph areas. We won three times. And when the council asked, consulted, on re-raising limits, there was not …
16 September 2026 , Plenary
Short Debate: Congestion isn't inevitable: How the Welsh Government and Cardiff Council can improve the lives of motorists in Cardiff and the surrounding regions
… came from Drakeford's Welsh Government was changing the default speed limit from 30 mph per hour to 20 mph , again, believing this would encourage fewer people to drive. And again, it didn't. The negative reaction … because of this single policy. Now, I'm pleased to see many roads that were originally changed to 20 mph going back to 30 mph , including some this summer in Cardiff, but there are many more roads …
28 June 2023 , Plenary
Debate on petition P-06-1340, 'Stop the change of speed limits to 20mph on 17th September'
… whole. This is a Welsh Government with a one-size-fits-all approach of a default 20 mph scheme for the whole country, and that's why it's inappropriate. We've heard from a number of Members … acknowledged that he made a mistake in Buckley. And, nine: there's a story in Buckley saying that 20 mph could lead to increased road rage incidents. Point 10: somewhere else this was being trialled was in Belfast …
12 July 2022 , Plenary
The Restricted Roads (20 mph Speed Limit) (Wales) Order 2022
… have a shorter stopping limit. I don't think it's necessarily the fact that this is a 20 mph proposal that is the issue, because, as I say, I've supported 20 mph in certain places … pick-up and drop-off time outside schools, which we have in some parts of Wales, with a 20 mph zone that kicks in for a short time and then it zips back up to 30 mph …
25 September 2024 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: 20mph speed limits
… policy was brought in to make places safer, and police data clearly and unequivocally shows that collisions on 20 mph and 30 mph roads have reduced since the introduction of 20 mph , the lowest on record outside the … petition: I can guarantee that we are listening. Earlier this year, I announced a three-phase plan for 20 mph , which included a national listening programme, and over the summer we engaged with people, businesses and communities right …
22 May 2024 , Plenary
Debate on petition P-06-1407, 'We want the Welsh Government to rescind and remove the disastrous 20mph law'
… town and community councillor, one of the common complaints I received was about speeding. Implementing the default 20 mph has definitely made drivers more conscious of their speed, and walking along our highways feels safer and more peaceful … When I was a cabinet member for highways at Flintshire County Council, I had requests for 20 mph zones to be introduced, as they had been across the border in England. These requests were mainly for Saltney, where …
10 January 2024 , Plenary
Topical Questions
… straight, the Deputy Minister refers to a vote on 15 July 2020 on a Welsh Government debate introducing 20 mph speed limits in Wales, and we had a free vote and we split. I abstained, for the record … But on the binding vote on 12 July 2022, on the legislation that brought in the default 20 mph limit, a vote on the Restricted Roads ( 20 mph Speed Limit) (Wales) Order, the Welsh Conservatives voted unanimously against …
12 September 2023 , Plenary
Statement by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change: 20 mph default speed limit on restricted roads
… not quite tell the story that he’s suggesting it does. That was a study of an existing 20 mph in an isolated network in the city of Belfast, and what that study concluded was that it would … all know that as drivers, and we’re not going to suddenly see next Monday everybody driving at 20 mph . You know, let’s be realistic about that. But what we will see, I’m confident, because …