Agenda item

Report of Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport

The Committee considered a report by the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport regarding the governance arrangements and operating model of the Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) (schedule 2 to the signed minutes).

The SSRP was established in 2011 with the aim of increasing collaboration between partner organisations including:- (i) Staffordshire County Council; (ii) Stoke-on-Trent City Council; (iii) Staffordshire Police; (iv) Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and; (v) Highways England, in order to reduce road casualties in the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent areas. Their vision was, “Working Together to Improve Road Safety in Partnership with our Communities” supporting which were the following Strategic Objectives:- (i) To achieve long term sustained reductions in road traffic collisions across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent; (ii) To ensue education and training initiatives are used effectively to reduce the risk of being involved in a road traffic collision; (iii) To agree a considered approach to engineering and enforcement based on evidence and making best use of sustainable but limited resources; (iv) To engage and support our communities to take responsibility for improving road safety and; (v) To improve public confidence in the safety of Staffordshire’s and Stoke-on-Trent’s roads.

In 2016, The Partnership agreed to strengthen their governance structure so as to ensure their work continued to receive appropriate direction and scrutiny. Therefore, they established:- (i) a Strategic Board to oversee strategy and take responsibility for key financial decisions and scrutiny and; (ii) an Operational Board to review current local road safety issues and make recommendations to the Strategic Board.

Members heard that recorded road traffic casualties in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent had seen a significant decline from 370 Killed or Serious Injuries (KSI) and 3197 Slight Injuries in 2016 to 191 and 1042 respectively. However, they noted that some of this variation was attributed to changes in collision reporting and recording processes over recent years.

However, work was ongoing to ensure resources were directed appropriately based on detailed analysis of casualty numbers and trends which had confirmed a need to continue the focus on children, young drivers and motorcyclists. Evidence also supported the development of initiatives in relation to cyclists, older drivers and commercial vehicles.

Current initiatives included:- (i) the development of the Community Speed Watch scheme to further support communities who were concerned about the speed of traffic; (ii) identification of a dedicated resource to promote road safety information and education through communication and media channels; (iii)  upgrading some of the older fixed camera sites through a phased approach and (iv) continued delivery of the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme courses, such as the Speed Awareness Course.

During the full and wide-ranging discussion which ensued, Members gave detailed scrutiny to the work of the Partnership since their previous update in September 2021, asking questions, seeking clarification and raising areas of concern as necessary including:- (i) a perceived decline in the standard of driving during and following the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic; (ii) the funding available for upgrading existing fixed safety camera sites; (iii) the key role of the Police in enforcing speed limits; (iv) the impact of warning letters on residents’ driving behaviour and the need to target speeding drivers from out of County; (v) the advantages of mobile safety camera equipment in ensuring the best use of scarce resources; (vi) the role of the latest digital technology in providing more safety camera sites; (vii) cross boarder co-operation with neighbouring Authorities/Partnerships and; (viii) the extra work required in order to achieve greater reductions in road traffic casualties and fatalities.

In conclusion Members welcomed the reductions in road accident casualty statistics which had been achieved whilst recognising the need for further work in this area. They expressed their continued support for the Partnership and looked forward to receiving further encouraging news in the future ie when more recent statistics had become available.      

In response to a request, the Cabinet Member undertook to liaise with a Member of the Committee regarding the specific case of cross boarder speed limited enforcement he had highlighted.

RESOLVED – (a) That the report be received and noted.

(b) That the work of the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Road Safety Partnership in reducing road accident casualties be welcomed.

(c) That the governance structure and operating model of the Partnership, as outlined in the report, be supported.

(d) That the on-going performance of the Partnership be monitored closely and further updates be brought to the Committee, as required.