Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods)

This report sets out the Council’s approach to Road Safety.

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which set out the Council’s approach to Road Safety.

Key points and themes within the report included:

• Examples of previous Road Safety Projects;
• City Wide Speed Limit Reductions;
• School Streets Schemes;
• Controlled Pedestrian Crossings;
• Cycle Training (Schools);
• Vision Zero;
• School Crossings and Park Entrances Audit;
• Enforcement of Moving Traffic Offences;
• Disabled access improvements;
• Enforcement activities undertaken around schools including GMP (Greater Manchester Police);
• Road Safety Strategy document;
• Speed Cameras / Red Light Cameras;
• Rights of Way Improvement Plan;
• Road Safety Week; and
• Road Safety Tool Kits for schools.

The Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee addressed the Committee in relation to schools and active travel.  She reported that, due to increases in pupil numbers, children were having to travel further to school, crossing main roads.  She reported that driving had got worse since the pandemic and expressed concern about issues on the main arterial routes into the city and cuts to traffic policing.  She referred to previous national campaigns to make drivers aware of the dangers of speeding. 

The Head of Network Management acknowledged the points raised.  He reported that, while investment was needed to make improvements on the roads network to improve safety, policing was also needed and the Council and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) were working with Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in relation to enforcement and greater visibility, which would act as a deterrent.  He highlighted the importance of education, training and enforcement.  He recognised that road safety campaigns and messaging had not been as prominent in recent years as they had been previously and advised that this was something that the Council would pursue, including lobbying the Department for Transport regarding a national campaign.   He informed Members about the role of car manufacturers and the use of technology such as black boxes to reduce accidents.  He informed Members that the Council was developing a Road Safety Strategy to identify improvements that the Council could make and monitor progress against targets.

The Director of Highways reported that an assessment of all school and park entrances had been carried out in the previous six months and that, on the basis of this, and subject to funding, improvement work would be planned to improve safety.  He highlighted the additional powers that the Council had been granted to enforce moving traffic offences (MTOs) which would be important for tackling some of the poor driving behaviour referred to.  He reported that speed camera enforcement would be part of the Road Safety Programme which was being rolled out.

The Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee expressed concern about drug-driving and advised that more speed cameras were needed on main arterial roads.  She reported that Manchester did not currently have its fair share of school buses, compared to other Greater Manchester authorities, and informed the Committee about work she was involved in to address this.

Key points and queries that arose from the Committee’s discussions included:

• The importance of this issue and its connection to other key priorities such as being an Age Friendly City and a Child Friendly City and that this should be more strongly reflected in the report;
• Concern that the percentage of collisions which resulted in death or serious injury had increased since 2011;
• That in order to encourage parents to allow their children to travel to school independently there needed to be a focus on the whole journey from home to school, not just road safety in the immediate vicinity of the school;
• The importance of the perception of safety;
• Behaviour change and enforcement near schools, including in relation to dangerous and obstructive parking;
• Questioning whether “accidents” was an appropriate term to use when collisions were often caused by the behaviour of the driver;
• The use of evidence from citizens, such as cyclists’ cameras;
• Sites selected for the enforcement of MTOs;
• Improvements for pedestrians, including disabled people and parents with prams;
• To request that future reports include more geographical context, for example hotspots and challenges in particular areas;
• To request that the Road Safety Strategy be considered by the Committee once it was available;
• Managing road safety in relation to temporary building works, when footpaths for closed;
• Concern that the data did not fully reflect what was happening in some parts of the city; and
• Whether, as part of the GM Camera Partnership, more innovative options could be considered, for example, portable cameras and cameras which showed a driver’s speed on a screen.

The Director of Highways advised that, as school entrances were a very busy area at peak times, this had been identified as a particular risk but he recognised Members’ points about the whole journey to school.  He referenced work through schools to educate parents about road safety around drop-off and pick-up times and the role of enforcement.  He reported that the Council would consider what more could be done in relation to enforcement arounds schools as part of the Road Safety Strategy, while advising that consideration would need to be given to whether this would displace the problem onto neighbouring streets.  The Head of Network Management reported that a multi-faceted approach was needed, including ongoing work with schools, physical changes to the environment around schools and School Streets schemes.

The Director of Highways reported that police forces were encouraging the public to submit dashcam footage to support the prosecution of offences and that the Council would support GMP in obtaining footage from the public.  In response to a Member’s question, he stated that he did not think that this type of information was being used as evidence in relation to civil offences but that he would check this with the relevant team and look into whether this could be changed.

The Head of Network Management reported that he would circulate a website link to Members through which footage could be submitted and that they could share this link with residents.  In response to a Member’s question, he reported that an evaluation had taken place of the 20 miles per hour speed limits now in place on most residential streets, to ascertain how effective this had been in reducing collisions and their severity; however, he recognised that enforcement of the 20 miles per hour zones was an issue.  He provided an update on the sites selected for the enforcement of MTOs and offered to share initial data from the first site, on Stockport Road, where enforcement was already taking place.  He outlined how the initial seven sites had been selected, using information from the public, Ward Councillors and GMP, as well as camera analysis surveys.  He advised that criteria was being developed for the selection of further sites and that Members would be invited to submit for consideration any further sites which they believed should be included.  He reported that there were many issues affecting the accessibility of pavements for disabled people, including pavement condition, drop crossings and street furniture, commenting that trials were currently taking place in the city centre to remove or re-position street furniture to make a clearer route for pedestrians.  He reported that the Council was continuing to lobby the Government on funding for highways maintenance.  He reported that the Council had a lot of data on accident analysis and he could provide ward-based data for any Members who were interested.  He informed Members that higher-level data was also available through the TfGM website.  He advised that, as part of the Road Safety Strategy, detailed monitoring and reporting would be put in place.   He acknowledged a Member’s point about the importance of benchmarking with comparator cities.  He assured Members that road safety and traffic management were fully considered in relation to temporary building works and outlined the process for this.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport reported that she and officers would review the terminology used, including in relation to “accidents” or “collisions”.  She advised that it was important for the Council to use the levers available to it, for example, in relation to Social Value, to educate people on road safety and that this was already being done to improve signage around schools.  She reported that education on Road Safety was key and that the work that took place in Road Safety Week in November should be repeated throughout the year, advising that, while more resources were needed, she would be working with officers, Members, schools and other partners to improve education on this important issue.  She stated that she and officers would revisit the evaluation of the reduction in speed limits to 20 miles per hour on most residential roads in order to have the evidence base to roll this work out further.  She reported that she would circulate information to Members on undertaking more community speed watch trials.

In response to a Member’s question, the Director of Highways clarified that the Network Management Duty on the expeditious movement of traffic included pedestrians and cyclists.  In response to a question about planning applications and Section 106 funds, he confirmed that this was routinely considered as part of the planning process.  He reported that, as part of the Road Safety Strategy, additional sources of data would be sought, for example, on incidents which had resulted in damage to street furniture but had not required police involvement.  In response to a question about utility companies and the positioning of street furniture such as broadband cabinets, he reported that his service worked to try to ensure that they were put in the most suitable locations but that the utility companies had statutory rights in relation to this which restricted what the Council could do.  He confirmed that the Council would look into different options for speed cameras and portable Variable Message Signs.  He acknowledged a Member’s point about engineering the environment to improve safety, using traffic calming measures.

Decisions:

1.            To note the Road Safety work being planned.

2.            To request that the Committee scrutinise the Road Safety Strategy at a future meeting and that this be updated to reflect the points raised in the meeting, in particular the centrality of Road Safety to wider Council priorities, such as being a liveable, Age Friendly and Child Friendly City.

3.            To request that the Director of Highways check with the relevant team whether dashcam footage could be used for civil offences in future.

4.            To request that the Head of Network Management circulate the website link through which footage from members of the public can be submitted.

5.            To note that the Executive Member for Environment and Transport will circulate information to Members on undertaking more community speed watch trials.