To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support is available for local authorities seeking to reduce speeding to improve road safety.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage and support local authorities to introduce safety measures on dangerous roads proactively rather than retrospectively after multiple accidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities have the funding required to introduce adequate road safety measures to reduce speeding.

The Government believes that any form of dangerous or inconsiderate driving behaviour is a serious road safety issue. All available research shows a link between excessive speed and the risk of collisions.

We expect all drivers to observe the speed limit, and enforcement is a matter for the police. Policing of our roads, and how available resources are deployed, is the responsibility of individual chief officers, taking into account the specific local issues.

Responsibility for making decisions, and prioritising works, about the roads under their care rests with local traffic authorities based on their knowledge of local needs. This includes introducing measures to tackle dangerous roads and reduce speeding.

The Department for Transport provides guidance to support local councils on the implementation of various traffic management issues.

In addition, the Department for Transport provides funds directly to local authorities which may be used for road safety purposes.

This includes the £170 million the Department is providing in 22/23 to local highways authorities in England, outside London and City Region areas, through the Integrated Transport Block for small scale transport schemes, including road safety measures. The Integrated Transport Block is not ring-fenced, allowing authorities to spend their allocations according to their own priorities. It is therefore for each authority to decide how it allocates its resources and which transport improvement projects to support.

It also includes the £5.7 billion City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) provide consolidated, long-term capital funding to improve the local transport networks of eight city regions across England through five-year settlements from 2022/23. This funding combines new and existing funds, including Highways Maintenance, Integrated Transport Block, Potholes fund and final year Transforming Cities Fund.

The Safer Roads Fund was established to treat the 50 highest risk local A road sections in England with remedial road safety engineering interventions. As a result, £100 million has been committed by the Department for Transport across 48 schemes.