Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support her Department provides to local councils for reducing speed limits in villages.

Decisions on making local speed limits on roads in England rest with traffic authorities who have responsibility for roads in local areas. The Department for Transport issues best practice guidance to assist authorities setting local speed limits, designed to make sure that speed limits are appropriately and consistently set while allowing for flexibility to deal with local circumstances.

The guidance suggests that while government policy is that a 30mph speed limit should be the norm through villages, it may be appropriate to consider 20mph limits in built-up village streets that are primarily residential in nature, or where pedestrian and cyclist movements are high, where there is a safety case and local support.

The Department for Transport has made no assessment of the potential merits of extending 20mph limits or zones in rural villages in West Dorset constituency.