Senedd Members Reject Reform Motion to Scrap Wales’ Default 20mph Speed Limits
Reform lost the vote after Labour said the lower limits cut casualties by 23% on 20mph and 30mph roads since the policy began.
- On Wednesday, September 30, the Senedd rejected a Reform proposal to scrap Wales' default 20mph speed limit, defeating the motion by 51 votes to 37 following debate in the Siambr.
- The Welsh Government implemented the default 20mph limit in September 2023, applying it to restricted roads with streetlights no more than 200 yards apart, typically in residential and built-up areas.
- Green Party MS Paul Rock urged members to accept evidence that a pedestrian struck at 30mph faces a 50% chance of severe injury compared to 10% at 20mph; Reform leader Helen Jenner argued the policy wasted public money.
- Transport Minister Mark Hooper defended the policy as 'fundamentally the right policy,' noting that total casualties on affected roads have fallen by 23% since the limit was introduced.
- Changing the speed limit would cost more than £160m, as councils would need to redesignate schools, hospitals, and residential areas individually at an average of £33,000 per location.
12 Articles
12 Articles
SPEED LIMIT IMPACT: Welsh 20mph debate puts taxi drivers’ journey times and earnings in focus
Taxi drivers’ working time and earnings featured in a Senedd debate on 30 September, as Reform UK called for Wales to scrap its default 20mph speed limit. Conservative MS Janet Finch-Saunders said taxi drivers she had spoken to felt the limit “actually hits their pockets”.“I get in a taxi now when I get here from Bangor Conwy Môn, and I ask the taxi driver, ‘How does the 20 mph affect you?’ And they hate it,” she told the chamber. “They say it a…
Members of Parliament have rejected Reform UK's proposal calling on the Welsh Government to remove the 20mph speed limit. The proposal was defeated by 51 votes to 37 following a debate in the Chamber. When opening the debate, Jason O'Connell, Reform's transport spokesman, referred to an increasing number of deaths on Welsh roads, stating that 91 people had been killed on Welsh roads in 2025.
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