Councillor Allan Brame moved and Councillor Stuart Kelly seconded a Motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order 13.

Following a debate conducted in accordance with Standing Order 15, and Councillor Brame having replied it was then

Resolved -

Council notes that:

·  In the last ten years, there has been no significant decline in the number of people killed and seriously injured on Britain’s roads, after decades of reducing casualties.

·  According to Department of Transport figures, there are still on average five fatalities and 68 serious injuries in England and Wales every day.

·  In the preamble to the consultation published by the Department of Transport in July this year, the Under Secretary of State for Transport said the review sought to ‘build the fairest and most operationally effective enforcement capability in police and other agencies to deliver the best outcome for the safety of all road users’.

·  In the same month, the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary published a damning report which predicted an increase in road deaths because,

o  according to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, there has been a 34% cut in funding in real terms for road policing between 2012/3 and 2019/20, leading to a reduction of police officers available for these duties.

o  these officers receive insufficient training and operational support.

o  road policing is ‘seen as less of a priority than it should be’ in most local plans and there is an ‘unclear national strategy.’

·  The HM Inspectorate called for urgent action as ‘roads policing is not optional.’

·  In September, Merseyside Police and the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership participated for five days in ‘Project EDWARD’ (Every Day Without a Road Death), as part of the welcome initiative to reduce road deaths.

Council resolves to:

(1)  Ask Group Leaders to write to the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Transport, making clear this Council’s position that funding in real terms for road policing should be restored; that the HM Inspectorate’s recommendations be implemented in full as a priority; and that a new national strategy for road policing and safety should be developed.

(2)  Ask the Chief Executive to send copies of this letter to the Liverpool City Region Police and Crime Commissioner, the Police and Crime Panel and our local Members of Parliament to seek their support for the Council’s position.

(3)  Ask the Council’s representatives on the Liverpool City Region Police and Crime Panel to request the Panel revisit the local policing plan to ensure that roads policing is sufficiently prioritised.

(4)  Ask that this Motion be referred to the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee so that it may review and refresh earlier work that was undertaken on the introduction of 20mph speed limits on all residential roads across the Borough with a view to making progress with their introduction.