Ministers have announced 27 local schemes that will share £47.5m road safety cash - a cutback on the 45 schemes floated in last autumn's mini budget, meaning some councils have missed out.
The new cash, on top of £100m already allocated, means that the Government has still not delivered the £175m pledged in 2017 under the Safer Roads Fund, which funds improvements such as re-designing junctions and improving signage and road markings.
The selection of the 27 new schemes is based on risk data provided by the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) charity, based on the rate of killed and seriously injured (KSI) casualties.
Wiltshire, September 2022
The new cash is less than half of earlier spending under the Safer Roads Fund, which the Department for Transport (DfT) said is set to prevent around 1,450 KSIs over the next 20 years.
In a report in 2018, the RSF said the remaining £75m from the Safer Roads Fund would prevent around 1,100 KSIs.
The DfT said the £47.5m should prevent around 760 KSIs over the next 20 years, with a benefit to society of £420m. Once the schemes’ whole-life costs are factored in, the overall Benefit Cost Ratio is estimated as 7.4, meaning that for every £1 invested the societal benefit would be £7.40.
The DfT said new the cash will ‘reduce the risk of collisions, in turn reducing congestion, journey times and emissions’.
Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-budget in September announced 45 new local road safety schemes however Highways reported in December that new transport secretary Mark Harper was rethinking the proposals.
The 27 schemes announced today appear to be schemes from the Kwarteng list of 45, albeit the names have changed to specify the highway authority, meaning that 18 have been shelved.
Announcing the new list, Mr Harper said: ’We’re injecting £47.5m so that local councils around the country have the support they need to keep everyone safe, while reducing congestion and emissions and supporting local economies.’
Dr Suzy Charman, executive director of the RSF, said: ‘The commitment and funding announced today is transformational for road safety teams in local authorities across the country. It will allow them to proactively reduce risk and make these 27 roads safer and more inviting for all road users.
‘Systematic changes have already had a big impact on road death and serious injury, for example seatbelts and airbags protect lives when crashes happen. In the same way we can design roads so that when crashes happen people can walk away, by clearing or protecting roadsides, putting in cross hatching to add space between vehicles, providing safer junctions like roundabouts or adding signalisation and/or turning pockets, and including facilities for walking and cycling.’
RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams said: ‘Redesigned junctions together with clearer signage and better road markings are integral to improving safety.
‘While we’re pleased the Government is taking steps to tackle some of the country’s most dangerous routes, we remain keen to see its wider plans to reduce the number of fatalities as part of the long-awaited road safety strategy.’
Source: DfT
Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) chair Rick Green said the reduced funding highlights that the local road network on which we all rely, needs to be given more priority by Government.
'Local highway engineers should be applauded for the work they do to keep their networks safe, but the fact remains that funding, whether dedicated for safety improvements or for vital maintenance which helps to ensure on-going safety, lags woefully behind what is needed.'
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