Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for the introduction of a 50 mile per hour speed limit on single-carriageway rural roads, and whether they plan to consult on such a proposal.

There are no plans to decrease the speed limit to 50 mph on single carriageway rural roads.

The Department for Transport has provided guidance to traffic authorities in the Speed Limit Circular 01/2013 - Setting Local Speed Limits. This encourages traffic authorities to keep speed limits under review, and to consider lower speed limits than the default, especially where there may be a relatively high number of bends, junctions or accesses.