All roads lead to 20 mph? Reducing the speed limit is controversial - but some people think it could solve the road safety emergency
Plus, WMCA staff to strike
Dear Patchers, Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat — but arguably not for the staff at the WMCA who are so dismayed by a recent pay rise offer that they are going on strike, The Dispatch can exclusively reveal. Also today, the need for speed comes up against the fight for road safety: should Birmingham reduce speed limits to 20mph? That’s our Big Story.
Catch up and coming up:
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Big story: All Roads Lead to 20 mph?
Top Line: An important inquiry into road safety in Birmingham will reveal how the city can address road safety, more than a year after the council called a ‘Road Safety Emergency’. A small bullet point in an appendix to the report has caught the attention of the national press: it suggests the council wants a 20 mph zone for the “whole of Birmingham” sparking a debate about whether or not the measure works.
Context. Last summer, BCC called a ‘Road Safety Emergency’ after 23 people were killed on Birmingham’s roads between June 2023 and July 2024. One measure campaigners have called for to tackle the crisis is a reduction in speed limits on our roads.
The first 20 mph zones were introduced in the 1990s in Sheffield. However, these slow-driving areas were kept at a minimum until the 2000s and 2010s when some Scottish local authorities introduced limited 20 mph speed limits. Notably, the rate of death is between 3.5% and 5.5% higher when a pedestrian is hit by a car going 30 mph rather than 20 mph.
In 2023, devolved Wales became one of the first countries in the world to introduce a blanket 20 mph speed limit on all built-up roads. The measure proved incredibly unpopular with 72% of poll respondents opposed the new limits. However, road deaths dropped dramatically by 23%.
Birmingham’s roads are much more dangerous than Wales with incredibly high rates of uninsured driving. A previous bid by the council to introduce widespread 20 mph zones was struck down by the government in 2020.
Sign of the times: It’s perhaps telling of the council’s financial state that a major barrier to these proposals would be the cost of getting the necessary signs changed. Hoping to dodge a £12 million bill (which is what it will cost to replace every 30 mph sign, according to The Sunday Times) BCC’s cabinet member for transport, Majid Mahmood, is awaiting permission from the Department of Transport to instead simply erect 20 mph signs across Birmingham’s boundaries.
It’s certainly welcome news for Birmingham’s road safety campaigners. Adam Tranter, who served as West Midlands walking and cycling commissioner under Andy Street, told The Sunday Times that: “switching from 30 mph to 20 mph would make a huge dent in the number of people killed or seriously injured.” When asked about a possible backlash, Tranter remarked that “physics doesn’t care much” about political controversy.
Motorists and Tories, not so much… Conservative councillor for Sutton Mere Green, Meirion Jenkins was quick off the draw to indicate his displeasure. “Labour Birmingham hate cars and they hate motorists,” he wrote on X. “They have been pushing this 20 mph nonsense for years.” Managing Director of the libertarian Freedom Association, Tim Scott, also chimed in: “20 mph across the board: they literally want the whole country stuck in the slow lane!”
Analysis: There seems to be a concerning lack of joined-up thinking by the council and the combined authority when it comes to transport policy. As The Birmingham Dispatch has previously detailed, Mayor Richard Parker has replaced a full-time road safety commissioner with two smaller advisory roles. Additionally, BCC is still considering a near-total ban on cycling in the city centre. Add all this to the terrible state of the bus network: and suddenly getting around the city becomes very difficult. It seems clear to The Dispatch that restrictions on one form of transport require increases in capacity in others.
Bottom Line. The last time BCC tried to extend 20 mph zones was in 2020. Back then they were shot down by the Conservative government. However, close ties between Mayor Richard Parker, BCC leader John Cotton and PM Keir Starmer may ease the measure through the Department of Transport. Whether the policy is enough to solve Birmingham’s various, and pressing transport issues, is another matter.
Your Opinion. Do you think 20 mph zones are a good idea and long overdue? Hate them? Or do you think Birmingham needs to pick a transport lane, be that buses, cycling or driving, and stick to it? Let us know at editor@birminghamdispatch.co.uk.
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Photo of the week
After a mysterious yellow poster sparked a huge debate in Manchester by accusing the city of selling its "soul" in pursuit of breakneck growth and development, a copycat has emerged in Birmingham. This poster, which is on the side of Station Street's The Crown pub, suggests the city’s leaders are failing to preserve its cultural heritage, instead favouring distant property developers and their cash. What do you think? Have your say in the comments.
Brum in brief
💸 Scoop: The Dispatch understands that staff working at the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) will walk out next Thursday in a fight for higher pay. The action will affect employees from across the organisation including bus depots — right in the middle of the week that Mayor Richard Parker has offered free evening bus travel. Unionised WMCA employees want a 10 per cent or £3,000 pay increase (whichever is higher), but were instead offered a £1290 uplift. They also want improved maternity and paternity pay, increased allowances for working on call, and disability, gender and ethnicity pay gaps to be published. UNISON rep Liam Edge told The Dispatch that this was a “coordinated action” and a “show of solidarity” between members with different pay grades, terms and conditions. The WMCA is one of several employers involved in the dispute, all of whom will meet with the unions tomorrow to discuss potential next steps.
🛑 Europe’s first ever Black Studies degree which was launched at Birmingham City University (BCU) in 2016 has been axed by the higher education provider. The programme was founded by a collective of scholars including Dr Lisa Amanda Palmer — who was the course convenor and whose work emphasises the need for Black feminist approaches to Black Studies. Dr Nathaniel Adam Tobias Coleman, who was also involved in establishing the course, tells The Dispatch: “Why Dr Palmer is not widely recognised as the degree’s founder, and why none of these three Black Women is still working at BCU, are questions that Black British communities have been very slow to ask.” The course’s closure has also sparked an accusation of “thinly veiled” racism by leading historian Dr Hakim Adi, while BCU said it had made the decision due to low recruitment numbers. Did you study or teach Black Studies at BCU? Get in touch at kate@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
🤔 Last week we reported on Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood’s opposition to the controversial assisted dying bill, which was voted through the House of Commons on Friday. Ladywood is one of only seven constituencies in the country where more than half of people are against legalising assisted dying — although it’s close: 49% are in favour. We were keen to hear what Dispatch readers thought about this divisive issue — here are a couple of interesting takes:
Robert Brenchley, a practising Christian with a Muslim family, who lives in Ladywood, told us he has conflicted views. He says: “On the one hand, people with terminal conditions shouldn't be left to suffer needlessly. On the other hand, there's the danger that people might be pushed into dying, either by family or by an officious state that resents the cost of supporting sick and disabled people; our current DWP regime is an unmitigated disgrace, and it can't be trusted for anything.”
Susan Lambert says: “Perhaps there would not be such support for this bill if more money was put into hospice care. [The] NHS is supposed to care for us from birth to grave — so why is so little money given to care of the terminally ill?”
Home of the week
This 1930s semi-detached home in Hall Green has three bedrooms and backs onto Shire Country Park — so there’s plenty of green space and the rooms are flooded with natural light. Plus, the master bedroom has a Juliet balcony overlooking the vast garden. It’s available for £375,000.
Media picks
🎞️ Coming soon in The Dispatch we’ll have an interview with the writer and broadcaster Jonathan Meades whose 1998 documentary Heart Bypass paints an affectionate portrait of the city, accented by his trademark offbeat sense of humour. Revisit the 30-minute film here and let us know if you have any questions for the man himself at sam@birminghamdispatch.co.uk — the weirder the better.
🎧 BBC Radio West Midlands’s Hidden Birmingham is a series of short podcasts all about The Alexandra Theatre on Suffolk Street Queensway. Discover the stories of ‘panto king’ Leon Salberg and the ghosts who haunt the stalls in these fascinating historical snippets.
Things to do
Tuesday
🎭 Have you heard the news? Nine-time Tony-winning musical The Book of Mormon arrives at The Alex on Tuesday until 28 December. Tickets are available from £20.
🎵 Neighbourhd is a movement for soulful Brummie musicians. Head to the Night Owl for a DJ set at 7.30 pm and join in an improvised jam session from 8 pm. Entry is pay what you feel.
Wednesday
🎻 The CBSO’s Kazuki Yamada will conduct a concert of works by William Walton and Edward Elgar at 7.30 pm. Head in an hour early for a talk on the history of the music by leading cultural historian Gavin Plumley. Prices start from £26.
🎄 Another week, another Christmas market. This one is at Brindley Place and has all things artisan: handmade candles, specialist skincare and delicious savoury goodies. Open from 10 am to 3 pm — full list of traders here.
Thursday
🖼️ A new exhibition is on at the Museum of Islamic Arts & Heritage Foundation (MIAH). From Samarkand to Salerno: Roads of Enlightenment traces the movement of ideas and science along the Silk Roads through the translations, books, and inventions of Arab and Persian thinkers and scientists during the Middle Ages. It’s on at the Moseley Community Hub between 12 and 1.30 pm and entry is free.
👻 Winter crimes, ghostly battlefields and a Christmas day murder all feature in stories told on The Weirdly Festive Walk of Warwick, an evening tour that is back by popular demand. This one costs £11.55 and begins at 7.30 pm.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that 23 people were killed on Birmingham’s roads between June and July 2024. This was meant to read “between June 2023 and July 2024” and has been corrected.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Birmingham City Council is considering proposals to reduce the speed limit to 20 mph on roads across Birmingham in a meeting on Tuesday 2 December 2024. This isn’t correct - the report to be discussed at the meeting is about how to improve road safety. However, an appendix to the report stated that cabinet member for transport Majid Mahmood has written to the government “requesting 20mph zone for the whole of Birmingham” and the article has been corrected to reflect this.
I support 20mph limits. Already much of my local area (Stirchley) is 20mph - but my fear is that the dangerous drivers will simply ignore this limit and drive at the speed they want (with absolutely no enforcement by police). Every time I drive up Umberslade Road (20mph) there's someone setting off the speed indicator thing where they're over a 30mph limit, let alone 20. Those people will continue to drive like this no matter what the signs say, until there's literally any attempt to crack down on it beyond road signs they'll blaze past.
I support 20 mph roads. I live in Sandwell and risked ridicule by going in the Birmingham Post and talking about problems with speeding and parking in my road (it was syndicated to some nationals - people who didn't read the article took the boring route taken whenever someone wants to ignore opinions that happen to be aired by a woman by calling me an "entitled Karen"... Yawn).
There's a school at the top of my steep road and people roar along it, well over 30. I do not understand why it remains a 30, without speed bumps, when other streets in the same area, near other schools, are 20s, some with speed bumps. Maybe the council thinks it's ok for kids at this apparently lesser school to be mown down? Oh, and I'm deaf, so I'm a vulnerable road user. Slow down, ffs!!
Doing anything over 20 on narrow roads with cars parked on both sides is incredibly dangerous. The people who object to a reduction in speed limits on built-up roads seem to think that their right to drive like they're in the Wacky Races is more important than other people's right to life. They're the sort of people who drive halfway up your exhaust pipe, and flash you because they MUST overtake - speed limits don't apply to them! Which probably means they'll ignore 20 mph limits anyway...