Place Scrutiny Committee
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Date of meeting: |
19 March 2026
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By: |
Director of Communities, Economy and Transport
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Title: |
Scrutiny Review of ESCC’s Local Speed Limit policy
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Purpose: |
To provide an update on the action plan from the Scrutiny Review of Local Speed Limit Policy report dated November 2024
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Committee is recommended to note the updates to the recommendations and action plan set out in Appendix 1
1. Background
1.1 The Place Scrutiny Committee at the meeting on 12 July 2024 agreed to establish a Review Board to undertake a Scrutiny Review of ESCC’s Local Speed Limit Policy. The scope of the review included:
· Consideration of the purpose of a local speed limit policy and examining how local speed limits are reviewed, assessed and delivered by East Sussex County Council (ESCC).
· Examining whether the ESCC local speed limit policy PS05/02 is in line with national Department for Transport (DfT) guidance.
· Reviewing examples of other local authority speed limit policies (e.g. our nearest neighbours and those with similar road networks to ESCC).
· Reviewing national and local evidence on the impact and effectiveness of lower speed limits and zones (including 20mph limits).
· Exploring other measures local authorities and developments are bringing forward to deliver low speed environments in both urban and rural areas.
· Exploring how ESCC currently communicates the local speed limit policy and wider policy context to residents and considers potential improvements.
· Reviewing the amount of officer time spent carrying out assessments of road safety concerns and preparing petition reports.
1.2 The recommendations of the Scrutiny Review were presented to Cabinet for comment on 28 January 2025 and were accepted at Full Council on 11 February 2025. A copy of the full scrutiny review report can be found on the Council’s website with the agenda for Full Council on 11 February. The version reported to Full Council included an amendment that was not included in the version reported to Cabinet.
1.3 The Committee received a 6-month update report on the implementation of the recommendations from the Scrutiny Review at its meeting in September 2025, and can be found here.
2. Supporting information
2.1 The Scrutiny Review of Local Speed Limit Policy was welcomed by the Department and the opportunity afforded by the review to examine improvements in how the service communicates the process for reviewing speed limits to the community.
2.2 The Department’s response to the Review’s recommendations and an update to the action plan are set out in Appendix 1.
New Government Road Safety Strategy
2.3 The Place Scrutiny Committee will be aware that on 7 January 2026, the Government published its first comprehensive Road Safety Strategy in over a decade. The strategy adopts the Safe System approach which recognises that while human error is inevitable, death and serious injuries are not; the road and vehicle environment should be designed to protect people as far as practicable.
2.4 The Strategy states that the DfT will develop new guidance to support local authorities, and this will include a new edition of the best practice guidance, ‘Setting Local Speed Limits, and an updated Manual for Streets, which provides principles for planning and designing new and existing residential streets. Once this guidance is published, a review will be undertaken of ESCC policies to assess whether these require updating.
3. Conclusion and reasons for recommendations
3.1 The Scrutiny Review highlighted several areas of focus for the department regarding the Local Speed Limit Policy. Progress has been made against each of the recommendations as highlighted in Appendix 1.
3.2 The Place Scrutiny Committee is recommended to note the updates to the action plan, with all recommendations having been embedded into the department’s working practices as standard.
Director of Communities, Economy and Transport
Contact Officer: Ismina Harvey
Email: Ismina.Harvey@eastsussex.gov.uk
local members
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