There’s a high chance that your local roads are about to get slower, as councils across the UK look to bring in new speed limits.
From Scotland to Birmingham, many local authorities are looking at imposing blanket 20mph restrictions in urban areas.
If consultations rule in favour of reducing the speed limit to 20mph, millions of residents will be affected.
Proposed reductions will likely prove to be highly unpopular after the Welsh government had to U-turn on its 20mph policy earlier this year due to huge backlash.
Which councils are looking at reducing speed limits and when?
And how much of the UK is already limited to 20mph? We take a look.
More than 1 in 3 people (28 million) live in Local Authorities with 20mph limits according to campaign group 20’s Plenty for U
Which councils in the UK are looking at bringing in 20mph speed limits?
The latest council to propose a city-wide 20mph speed limit is Birmingham. If council plans go ahead then Birmingham will become a default 20mph zone.
On Tuesday, the proposition will be considered by the Labour-controlled council. If it is agreed upon 1.1million residents will be subject to driving at 20mph on residential roads and roads with high footfall.
The council has already asked the Department for Transport for permission to erect 20mph signs around the city limits but is yet to receive a response.
Birmingham wants to bring in a city-wide 20mph speed limit, with signage around the city’s boundary which would subject 1.1 million residents to 20mph speeds
Road safety campaigner Rod King, who founded 20’s Plenty For Us, told The Sunday Times: ‘What Birmingham is really doing, rather than doing it road by road, is say, ‘if you come into this city it’s 20mph as a default’.
‘It’s about process and signage rather than policy – it’s sensible. It makes it a straightforward process cheaper to implement.’
Much of Birmingham’s decision could be a cost saving one as avoiding putting the 20mph signs on every street would save the council an estimated £12million.
The authority effectively declared itself bankrupt in September with a need to find £300million in savings.
This map by campaign organisation 20’s Plenty For Us shows 20mph local authorities across London in green shading
Scotland is also looking to impose 20mph blanket restrictions.
Earlier this year Scotland decided to drop the speed limit on most of its urban roads to 20mph. This is set to be introduced in 2025 as part of a push to half the number of people killed or seriously injured on Scottish roads by 2030.
Lower limits are already in place in parts of Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Highlands and the Scottish Borders.
At the end of November 32 councils were given £4million to spend on 20mph speed limits as part of the £14 million the Scottish Government committed this financial year to enhancing road safety across those 32 councils.
The results of a public gathering exercise on 20mph speed limits is set to be published soon by the Scottish Parliament.
How much of the UK is already 20mph?
More than 1 in 3 people (28 million) live in Local Authorities with 20mph limits according to campaign group 20’s Plenty for Us.
The organisation’s interactive map shows areas where local authorities have either already committed to 20mph limits as the norm or are in the process of implementing them.
England does not have a nationwide policy but many counties, towns and cities including Hull, Bristol, Norwich, Chichester (West Sussex) and Tonbridge (Kent) and 52 per cent of borough-controlled roads in London have adopted 20mph restrictions.
Will Labour bring in 20mph in England?
Now ex-Transport Secretary Louise Haigh (pictured) said she would allow local areas to decide whether to install 20mph speed limits. It remains to be seen if her successor Heidi Alexander follows suit
Labour didn’t comment on 20mph speed limits in its manifesto, but when asked directly by Auto Express before England went to the polls, Labour MP Louise Haigh said: ‘It should be up to local communities to decide the speed limits on their local roads, not politicians in Westminster.
’20mph limits are welcome in certain areas such as around schools – but those decisions should be made locally. That’s why a Labour Government will not introduce blanket 20mph zones’.
Louise Haigh went on to become Transport Secretary before quitting last week and being replaced by the MP for Swindon South, Heidi Alexander.
While still Transport Secretary Haigh gave the green light to local councils who want to introduce safety schemes including 20mph zones.
In August, speaking on the ‘Streets Ahead’ podcast Haigh said: ‘Those kinds of decisions [road safety schemes such as 20mph zones) should absolutely be made at a local level by communities and not dictated to or stoked up by the centre.
‘Local authorities will have my full support to roll out schemes.’
Whether her successor implements 20mph zones remains to be seen but the new Transport Secretary is known to be in favour of 20mph restrictions: When Ms Alexander served as deputy mayor of London for transport (from 2018 to 2021) she oversaw the rollout of 20mph zones in the capital.
Wales’ 20mph speed limit introduction – why did the Government have to U-turn?
A woman holds a sign during a protest against 20mph speed limits on September 23
Wales introduced the 20mph blanket ban on restricted roads in September 2023 but reversed the decision in July 2024, after a cost of £32million.
Wales’ Transport Secretary Ken Skates admitted that the policy was so unpopular that even his own family had signed the petition against it.
The Conservatives in the Senedd were fiercely opposed, branding it a ‘waste of time and resources’.
The petition to scrap the 20mph speed limit was Wales’ biggest ever petition with 470,000 signatures.
Is Scotland bringing in a 50mph limit too?
Scotland, which is known as a paradise for drivers because of its miles and miles of empty a-roads, could see 60mph limits dropped to 50mph if new proposals are implemented
Scotland has announced a new proposal to help achieve its aim to half the number of people killed or seriously injured on its roads by 2030: limiting the speed of cars from 60mph to 50mph on single carriageways A-roads.
While cars would have to drop their speed by 10mph, goods vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes could increase their speed from 40mph to 50mph on single carriageways and from 50mph to 60mph on dual carriageways.
The changes are the latest part of a public consultation into proposed changes to speed limits in Scotland.
The National Speed Management Review consultation will run until Wednesday 5 March 2025 and series of engagement sessions will be held early in 2025. Findings will be published in summer 2025.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: ‘We must never lose sight of the fact that one death on our roads is one too many. These proposed changes represent a vital step towards achieving national casualty reduction targets, and I urge everyone to take part in the consultation and help shape the future of road safety in Scotland.’
But the Scottish Conservatives described the plan as ‘a ludicrous measure which seeks to demonise motorists in rural areas who rely on using a car’.
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