Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2022 to Question 120746, on Roads: Safety, on what date his Department received the report on road safety targets commissioned by his Department in conjunction with WSP and Loughborough University.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The final report was received by the Department for Transport on 9th March 2021 and it will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2022 to Question 105490, on what date his Department expects to receive the report on road safety targets commissioned by his Department in conjunction with WSP and Loughborough University.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The report has been received by the Department for Transport and will be published in full in due course.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to implement the recommendations of HMICFRS's July 2020 report, Roads Policing: Not optional - An inspection of roads policing in England and Wales.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The HMICFRS report Roads Policing: Not Optional was commissioned by the Roads Policing Review Governance Board which is jointly chaired by officials from the Department for Transport and the Home Office. Recommendations 1 to 3 and 7 were addressed to the Government. The remainder of the thirteen recommendations were for Chief Constables and the College of Policing.
In respect of Recommendation 1 that Department for Transport and Home Office produce a joint road safety strategy, the Government is going further. We will instead establish a cross Government Road Safety Strategic Board to engage all Departments in a strategic framework to reduce road casualties.
The use of statutory powers to require locally elected PCCs to include specific policing issues in their Police and Crime plans needs to be balanced with a proper regard for local autonomy and the will of local voters. PCCs are directly elected and must consult their communities in developing a Police and Crime Plan that reflects local circumstances. The Home Office is committed to working closely with the police and PCCs to consider what further improvements can be made to the effectiveness of roads enforcement in England and Wales and reduce road traffic casualties.
The Strategic Policing Requirement (SPR) will set clear direction to policing on the contribution they need to make to respond to national threats including terrorism, serious and organised crime and child sexual abuse. It will highlight where police forces need to work together, using local and/or regional capabilities, to protect the public. Following the SPR review that we concluded last year, we are considering the national threats and policing capabilities, such as roads policing, that are included in the SPR. The revised SPR will be published in due course.
Recommendation 7 was that the Government should refresh Department for Transport Circular 1/2007. The Department for Transport is currently redrafting and updating the guidance in consultation with stakeholders and it is anticipated new guidance will be published in the summer.
The Home Office and Department for Transport will continue to work with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to monitor the progress made in respect of the recommendations relevant to them. This will be done in a manner that respects the operational independence of Chief Officers and the College of Policing.