SECTION 2

LEGISLATION

2.1 Local Government and Rating Act 1997

Many communities concerned about the impact of high vehicle speeds are frustrated when highway authorities claim they cannot introduce the schemes called for. Prioritisation of speed management schemes according to volumes of traffic and history of casualties does not deal with the perceived problems (especially the ‘accident waiting to happen’) or the suppression of trips by pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians.

It is not surprising, therefore, that many parish councils have taken the opportunity to fund schemes through the Local Government and Rating Act 1997. This legislation enables town and parish councils to fund the introduction or removal of traffic calming measures. Section 30 of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 states:

There is considerable pressure for this type of action from parish councils and residents, particularly in villages. Benefits are to be found not only in casualty reduction but also in improved quality of life for communities. Additionally, Hampshire County Council is seen to take action in response to local demand, and many council members are keen to respond in this way to pressure from villages in their divisions (Hampshire County Council, 1998).

Leominster Town Council, Herefordshire, has contributed in a similar way to a number of traffic calming schemes. In 1998 it made a £6,000 contribution which was matched by both the District and County Councils, and in 2000 it made a £2,000 contribution towards a scheme proposed by a local resident to stop rat-running.

Buckinghamshire County Council has agreed a protocol with the Association of Local Councils whereby it will help parish councils use their powers to promote the introduction of traffic calming schemes, with costs to the parish councils spread over three financial years (Buckinghamshire County Council, 1999).

Because the budgets available are small, low-cost schemes are often adopted which may not achieve the desired changes in driver behaviour (Bellefontaine, 2000). Indeed, local funding of this sort has in the past been an option only for relatively rich towns and parishes.

However, the Rural White Paper 'Our Countryside: the Future' published by the government in November 2000 announced the creation of a new Parish Fund of £15 million over three years to support small-scale transport projects identified by parishes. Under this proposal, parish councils will now be able to apply to the Countryside Agency for grants of up to £10,000 to fund schemes which meet local transport needs (DETR, 2000a).

2.2 Crime and Disorder Act 1998

Fear of crime was identified by the government as a key component for community safety strategies under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (sections 5-7 and 17). The Act, which came into force in September 1998, promotes public consultation and the development of local partnerships to identify problems and set targeted priorities for action. Where local people express concerns over road safety in crime and disorder audits, those concerns are regarded as legitimate areas for police activity in partnership with local authorities. The Act thus provides an opportunity for significant expansion of speed management and speed limit enforcement.

The Home Office has informed the Slower Speeds Initiative that 60% of the 259 audit documents sent to them by police and local authority partnerships in England and Wales included discussion of road safety issues in some form. Those partnerships which did raise the issue of road safety in their consultations found it to be a high priority in their local communities. A review conducted by the Association of Chief Police Officers revealed that when audits asked local people about road safety, 86% of partnership areas rated it as an issue of concern to rank alongside burglaries and muggings. As for the crime and disorder strategies themselves, 37% of strategies in England and Wales listed ‘road safety/dangerous driving’ as a priority for action (Phillips et al, 2000).

As part of research for its crime and disorder strategy, North Yorkshire Constabulary conducted a postal questionnaire attitude survey which asked ‘Do you feel your neighbourhood is a safe place for children?’. A total 41% of the 6,747 who answered the question said ‘No’. Of those who said ‘No’, 81% stated that this was due to speeding or other road safety reasons.

Similarly, community safety audits undertaken in Surrey as a result of the Crime and Disorder Act showed fear of traffic, especially speed, at the top of rural residents’ concerns. This has led the police to introduce a Community Speed Management Unit. The Unit is influenced not only by crashes themselves but also by community pressure, and so includes sites where residents perceive there is danger. Surrey County Council is also developing formal partnerships to deliver multi-agency solutions. For example, the County Council is taking on responsibility for parking control to free up police resources for rural speed enforcement (Bertauche, 2000). A speed management strategy has been developed, the object of which is to define the appropriate speed for any given location and identify the most appropriate technique to ensure compliance. This work seeks to move away from the car-dominated evaluation methods of the past and to focus on the needs of all road users, particularly the more vulnerable. Government forecasts that traffic in rural areas is likely to increase by almost 50% by 2031 has provided a major stimulus to this work (Surrey County Council, undated).

2.3 Local Government Act 1999 (Best Value)

The Local Government Act 1999 required local authorities to apply Best Value assessment across their services from 1 April 2000. National Best Value performance indicators will be set each year by the Secretary of State. In addition, local authorities will be able to set local performance indicators which reflect ‘local priorities and uniqueness’. Local Transport Plan indicators and targets are given as an example of such local performance indicators, to be included in Local Performance Plans. Some Best Value user satisfaction surveys have already indicated support for traffic calming and speed management.

The four key principles of Best Value in relation to delivering community-focused services require local authorities to:

• challenge existing service delivery
• compare own performance with that of other service providers
• consult with local people and businesses to determine needs and priorities
• compete by identifying cost-effective and innovative ways of delivering high quality services

Results of a Best Value review of community safety in West Sussex in autumn 1999 revealed that the top priority identified for road safety was slowing down vehicles. The second priority was more traffic calming. The results of the survey become even more significant for speed management if respondents’ concerns about ‘Better police enforcement of speed’ are added. This makes speed issues the top priority for over 50% of respondents (given that traffic calming is strongly related to speed reduction), as shown in Table 1. This mirrors the findings of an earlier crime audit carried out under the Crime and Disorder Act, where speeding also emerged as a major issue (Makin, 2000).

Table 1: Top 10 road safety improvements identified as first priority in West Sussex according to residents (1999)
 

	No of respondents	% of top ten
Slowing down vehicles	155	31
More traffic calming	100	20
More junction improvements	51	10
Better police enforcement of speed	48	9
Better enforcement of parking	36	7
More pedestrian crossings	29	6
Better signing	26	5
Better highways maintenance	23	5
More cycle paths/crossings	20	4
New road construction	16	3

2.4 Local Government Act 2000

The passing of the Local Government Act 2000 in July 2000 provides further opportunities for communities to play a stronger role in partnership with local authorities on transport issues. Part 1 of the Act, ‘Community well-being’, gives local authorities new powers to promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of their areas in order to respond to the needs of their local communities, along with a duty to prepare community strategies in partnership with other local service providers. The strategies are to be based on an assessment of local needs, involving local communities in establishing priorities for action (DETR, 2000b). Government guidance on preparing community strategies was published in December 2000 (DETR, 2000c).

2.5 Transport Act 2000

Enacted on 30 November 2000, the Transport Act 2000 offers a further opportunity to take action on lowering speed limits. Section 268 of the Act gives local authorities the power to designate any road under their authority a quiet lane or a home zone, with speeds as low as 10mph. Furthermore, section 269 of the Act calls on the Secretary of State to review speed limits on rural roads, giving particular consideration to the possible institution of rural road hierarchies. In addition to those mechanisms already available for introducing lower speed limits on rural roads, the introduction of rural road hierarchies would enable local authorities to categorise rural roads according to use and fit speed limits to each category accordingly. The review must publish its findings by the end of November 2001.

2.6 References for Section 2