Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the number of (a) deaths and (b) serious accidents on roads in Shropshire.

This Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My Department is developing our road safety strategy and will set out more details in due course.

Local government is the main delivery agent of road safety. The responsibility to implement, fund, deliver, promote and enforce local road safety initiatives remains with the Local Authorities under the 1988 Road Traffic Act.

It is for the local council to decide what measures may be appropriate in their local area to “take steps both to reduce and prevent accidents”.

Local authorities are also responsible for the management of local roads, within the rules set by Government, including setting local speed limits where the national limit would not be appropriate.

In Shropshire, the Department for Transport has funded two road safety schemes as part of the Safer Roads Fund, the A5191 and the A529, aiming to reduce risk on England’s most high risk ‘A’ roads.