Road Safety

An Overview and Scrutiny Report

December 2024

OFFICIAL
Contents
Chair’s Foreword 4
Summary of Recommendations 6
1 Introduction 13
1.1 Background 13
1.2 Outcomes 14
1.3 Why the Committee decided to look at Road Safety 14
1.4 Partnership Scrutiny 14
1.5 Evidence Gathering 15
1.6 Statutory and Legal Responsibilities 16
1.7 Strategic Framework – local and regional 16
2 Key Findings 18
2.1 Scale and Nature 18
2.2 Strategy & Policy 23
Road Harm Reduction Strategy 23
Road Safety Emergency 24
Community Role 25
2.3 Physical Infrastructure 28
Speed Limits 30
2.4 Parking 32
Legislation 33
Council’s Parking Service Review 35
Reporting illegal and antisocial parking 36
How are parking complaints responded to by the Council? 38
Enforcement 39
2.5 Other Enforcement Activity (by Council or West Midlands Police) 45
Speed Camera Enforcement 45
Street Racing 46
Moving Traffic Offences 47
Appendix A: Survey Results 50
Appendix B: Legislation 55
Appendix C: Inquiry Activities 58
Appendix D: Contributors 60

OFFICIAL
Further information regarding this report can be obtained from:
Lead Review Officer: Amelia Wiltshire
E-mail: [email protected]
Reports that have been submitted to Council can be downloaded from
www.birmingham.gov.uk/scrutiny

03 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
Chair’s Foreword
Councillor David Barker, Chair of Inquiry and Deputy Chair of
Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Road safety is an issue that unites communities across the city, in that every
corner of Birmingham faces fears of yet another incident. Many neighbourhoods
are haunted by incidents on our roads where lives were lost or changed. This
drives many councillors like me to run for elected office. It dominated my
election in 2022, and since then I can scarcely recall a week without one
incident or another appearing in the news or brought to my attention. What this
inquiry seeks to address is how the Council can do better to make our streets and roads safer.

This inquiry began in part to scrutinise the parking enforcement service run by the Council. While it
always included a broader look at what the Council does and can do better, a central issue reported
by councillors across the city is the lack of adequate parking enforcement in their wards. As shown
through evidence gathering, illegal or poor parking, particularly around schools, can have a severe
impact on road safety. We are enormously grateful to all the community groups and members who
gave up their time to give evidence to this inquiry, and who also continue to campaign extensively
across the city for safer streets.

Throughout the inquiry we have gathered a significant amount of evidence, much of which helps us
all to understand how individual aspects of prevention and enforcement delivered by the Council are
falling short and must be improved. This inquiry contains many findings and recommendations that
recognise how no one road safety measure can solve the problem in isolation of the others. The
Council too must deliver solutions with its partner organisations to achieve its goal of Vision Zero. I
am incredibly grateful for the time given by the West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands
Police, and Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to share their views on how we can all do
better together.

This inquiry is all about finding solutions through collaboration. On that note, I would like to thank my
three colleagues, who worked hard on this inquiry and shaped its findings and recommendations:
Cllr Richard Parkin, who reminded us of the importance of individual responsibility on the road; Cllr
Izzy Knowles, who kept a focus on partnership working; and Cllr Waseem Zaffar, whose wealth of
experience as a former Cabinet Member ensured we never lost sight of Birmingham City Council’s
role.

Partner agencies and campaign groups praised the Council’s transport policy team for its ambition
and the quality of their work. Too often the Council looks outside of itself when searching for
improvements, but, as the findings and recommendations demonstrate, there is an enormous
amount of progress that can be made through bold, ambitious, and brave leadership within the
Council. Previous inquiries, such as the 2024 Active Travel Inquiry, have noted that the Council often
struggles to manage and deliver projects. In the summer of this year, the Executive declared a road
safety emergency. Now is the time to follow words with actions and demonstrate to the residents of
Birmingham how this Council will make changes to deliver safer streets and roads for all of us.

OFFICIAL
The role of scrutiny is to provide challenge, to criticise constructively, and reflect the insights and
concerns of the residents we serve. Birmingham City Council has been criticised for weak scrutiny
in a report by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny. Road safety is a subject that has always
been important to the public but has grown even more so in recent years in this city. It merits the
strongest inquiry findings and recommendations possible. The whole inquiry group has worked hard
together to provide the most challenging recommendations we can. We have put these forward
because we believe the Council, its leadership, and Council staff can achieve all that we
recommend. The level of our challenge reflects the level of hope and belief we have in them.

We have been particularly fortunate to be supported throughout this inquiry by some incredibly
diligent and passionate Council officers, particularly Amelia Wiltshire and Baseema Begum. We
have also seen throughout this inquiry how many members of Council staff work tirelessly to make
Birmingham’s streets safer. We hope this inquiry provides practical steps to support their work
reducing road harm. We owe it to those we were elected to represent to deliver real change that
means an inquiry like this will never be needed again.

Councillor Lee Marsham, Chair of Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee

As Councillors embedded in our communities, we will all be aware of the desire

of our residents to see improved pedestrian and road safety in our great city. But
the background is one of repeated tragedies. In recent months, too many
pedestrians and cyclists, both adults and children, have died or been seriously
injured on our streets. We need to stop these tragedies by working together.

That is why the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee
set up this inquiry on road safety, which complements our previous Active Travel
Inquiry. This inquiry was agreed by Council in July 2024 and contained 13
realistic recommendations to speed up delivery of active travel schemes, which
in turn helps improve pedestrian and road safety and to encourage more walking and cycling.

I wish to praise all the members of the Task and Finish Group, led by the Committee’s Deputy
Chair, Councillor David Barker, alongside cross-party members Councillors Izzy Knowles, Richard
Parkin and Waseem Zaffar. As part of their work, we held two public sessions where the full
committee contributed to the evidence gathering. This has meant that all committee members
have played their part, including Councillors Raqeeb Aziz, Colin Green, Timothy Huxtable and
Lauren Rainbow. Combined, we have made well-meaning yet deliverable recommendations which
will help save lives and tackle the many issues highlighted from the evidence.

To everyone who has contributed to this inquiry, from outside bodies and other Councils,
community witnesses who provided written and/ or oral evidence, to all elected members for their
contributions, the hardworking Council officers and scrutiny team, thank you for your efforts.

Finally, thank you in advance for taking the time to read the report in full, which I believe can and
will make a difference if implemented

05 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
Summary of Recommendations
Ref Recommendations to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date
Members
Scale and Nature
R01 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for March 2025
Council asks the Cabinet Member for Environment and (3 months)
Environment and Transport to engage Transport
with the West Midlands Police and
Crime Commissioner and West
Midlands Police to understand how the
Council can support activities to tackle
driving without insurance offences.
R02 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for January 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Member Environment and (1 month)
for Environment and Transport with the Transport
Leader of the Council, Deputy Leader,
Mayor for West Midlands and all
Birmingham MPs to write a letter and
continue to lobby the Department for
Transport to request funding for a
London quality public transport and
active travel network so there are
alternatives to driving.

OFFICIAL
Ref Recommendations to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date
Members
Strategy and Policy
R03 Recommendation: Leader of the Council/ March 2025
Council asks the Leader of the Council Cabinet Member for (3 months)
and Executive, to share the action plan Environment and
for the Road Safety Emergency with a Transport
report to Council. This action plan
should clearly set out how it commits
to deliver, including what will happen,
timescales and how any council
activity will be funded. It should also
be clear on how it will demonstrate
how it is making a difference.
R04 Recommendation: Leader of the Council/ June 2025
Council seeks assurances from the Cabinet Member for (6 months)
Leader that the current Cabinet the Environment and
Member portfolio arrangements enable Transport/ Cabinet
the Council to deliver on the Road Member for Social
Safety Emergency. Justice, Community
Safety and Equalities
R05 Recommendation: Deputy Leader December 2025
Council to ask the Deputy Leader to (12 months)
provide assurances that the Council's
adopted policies are sufficient to tackle
car dependency by supporting the
transformation of the city through
improving the quality and scale of
public transport and active travel
provision, whilst systemically reducing
road harm risk. This should also
consider the level of population density
needed to sustain integrated public
transport and active travel networks.

07 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
Ref Recommendations to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date
Members
Physical Infrastructure
R06 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for March 2025
Council seeks assurances from the Environment and (3 months)
Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport
Transport that the cost recovery model
in place for schemes delivers value for
money with a report to the
Sustainability and Transport Overview
and Scrutiny Committee. This report
should outline how alternative options
(such as a set fee for each scheme)
have been considered and why they
have been rejected.
R07 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for March 2025
Council requests that the Cabinet Environment and (3 months)
Member for Environment and Transport
Transport ensures all ward members
have a plain-speaking guide to support
them to utilise effectively their
Environment & Transport
Neighbourhood Fund allocation. This
guide should provide information on
evidence based ‘what works’. It should
also be regularly reviewed and
updated when new ideas are tested.

Ref Recommendations to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date

Members
Parking
R08 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for March 2025
Council requests that the Cabinet Environment and (3 months)
Member for Environment and Transport
Transport commits as part of the
current Parking Enforcement service
review:

• That the review is completed by

end March 2025 to enable its
recommendations to be
implemented as soon as
possible for Birmingham.
• Leads to a fully data led service
(including use of information

OFFICIAL
 provided through third party
evidence)
• Contract tender developed
• Agrees to publish information to
the public on a quarterly basis
to understand what activity is
taking place and whether it is
making a difference.
• Is satisfied that the current
maximum parking charges
cover the costs of running the
service and considers
appropriate next steps if this is
not the case.
• Reintroduces the Annual
Parking report.
R09 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for June 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Member Environment and (6 months)
for Environment and Transport to Transport
outline the approach to the
Sustainability and Transport Overview
and Scrutiny Committee to tackle
pavement parking across the city and
the plan to achieve this. This should
cover but not exclusively:

• How the current Traffic

Regulation Order can be better
utilised.
• How to tackle anti-social parking
caused by businesses
(including their third party
delivery services).

Further, activity to address this

including its impact should be included
in the Annual Parking report.
R10 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for June 2025
Council requests the Leader, Cabinet Environment and (6 months)
Member for Environment and Transport/ Cabinet
Transport and the Cabinet Member for Member for Digital,
Digital, Culture, Heritage and Tourism Culture, Heritage and
to: Tourism
1. explore how to improve the
existing reporting system to
make it easier for people to

09 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 report parking issues to the
Council. This new system
should include the following:
• Enables people to provide third
party evidence
• Provides feedback on action
taken
• Be user experience tested
• Launched with a
communications plan to inform
and upskill residents so they
can use it effectively
• Integrated with council systems
to minimise service interface

and;

2. Explore with West Midlands Cabinet Member for June 2025

Police and the other Local Environment and (6 months)
Authorities within the West Transport
Midlands Combined Authority if
they can adopt a single
reporting system. This will
make it easier for all residents
by sending the complaint to the
right authority for them.
R11 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for January 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Member Environment and (1 month)
for Environment and Transport to Transport
urgently write a letter to the
Department for Transport to request
Councils are supported through
legislation to be able to make more
use of third party reporting for
enforcement, as police forces are able
to. This letter should be cosigned by
all Birmingham MPs, the Police and
Crime Commissioner and the Mayor
for the West Midlands.

OFFICIAL
Ref Recommendations to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date
Members
Other Enforcement Activity (Council and West Midlands Police)
R12 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for March 2025
Council requests that an Environment and (3 months)
implementation plan setting out how it Transport
intends to reduce speed limits across
the city is provided to the Sustainability
and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee. This plan should include
how it will engage and inform ward
members.
R13 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for January 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Member Environment and (1 month)
for Environment and Transport with the Transport
Leader of the Council, Deputy Leader,
Mayor for West Midlands, West
Midlands Police and Crime
Commissioner and all Birmingham
MPs to urgently write a letter to the
Department for Transport asking that
they introduce legislation for the police
and councils to retain funds received
from speeding fines in the region.
R14 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for January 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Member Environment and (1 month)
for Environment and Transport to Transport
urgently write a cross-party letter to the
Department for Transport to request an
increase in the maximum charges for
Moving Traffic contraventions. This
letter should be cosigned by all
Birmingham MPs, the Police and
Crime Commissioner and the Mayor
for the West Midlands.
R15 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for January 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Environment and (1 month)
Member for Environment and Transport
Transport to urgently write a letter to
the Police and Crime Commissioner
and Chief Constable asking them to
expand the remit and resources of
traffic officers to work closely with
neighbourhood police teams, and
local councils, to gather intelligence
to target individuals who: routinely

11 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 break speed limits; use illegal
modifications of engines and
exhausts and tinted windows; and
remove number plates to escape
detection.

Ref Recommendations to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date

Members
Tracking
R16 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for June 2025
Council agrees that the Executive Environment and (6 months)
Member reports on progress towards Transport
achievement of these
recommendations no later than June
2025

OFFICIAL
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
1.1.1 The Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee decided to
undertake an Inquiry into Road Safety on 20 July 2023.
1.1.2 As the Committee had also agreed to undertake an Inquiry into Active Travel, the
Committee agreed that this Inquiry would commence following the conclusion of the
Active Travel Inquiry. A Terms of Reference were, therefore, agreed in February
20241.
1.1.3 A cross-party Inquiry Task and Finish Group was established comprising:
• Councillor David Barker, Deputy Chair of the Sustainability and Transport
Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Chair of the Inquiry
• Councillor Izzy Knowles
• Councillor Richard Parkin
• Councillor Waseem Zaffar
1.1.4 The key question the Inquiry Task and Finish Group asked was:
“How can the Council deliver better road safety outcomes while also meeting its
budget challenges and moving towards financial recovery?”

1.1.5 In seeking to answer this the Task and Finish Group considered the following lines of
inquiry:
• What is an acceptable level of compliance with the rules of the road? What
enforcement activity is required to achieve this?
• What are the roles and responsibilities for individual organisations and their
services? How are the Council and partner organisations currently working
together?
• What is the financial modelling for Council enforcement activity?
• How are the Council using data and information to deliver a better service? How
does the Council use information from citizens to inform their service?
• What does an effective cross-Council enforcement (including reporting)
approach look like? What are the key measures which make a difference? What

1Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme, Appendix 1, Page 16-19,
February 2024

13 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 is their cost base? What can we learn from other Local Authorities and their
partner organisations to deliver better outcomes on enforcement?
• What are the legislative tools available to the Local Authority, and how are they
currently being used? How do these tools differ from those available to other
partner organisations?
• How can the Council build support within neighbourhoods and communities for
enforcement?

1.2 Outcomes
1.2.1 The specific outcomes for this inquiry are:
• Outcome 1: Safer roads for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.
• Outcome 2: Service transformation for Highways
• Outcome 3: Contribute towards the Council’s financial recovery programme
• Outcome 4: Build trust and confidence in Birmingham citizens to effectively
address road safety issues

1.3 Why the Committee decided to look at Road Safety

1.3.1 Making our city’s roads safer has been and always will be a priority for communities
across the city. The impact of fatalities and serious injuries for survivors and their
families cannot be easily described. Committee members felt that the level of public
concern demonstrated when meeting or speaking with constituents or expressed in
local media articles meant that this was a vital issue for the committee to explore. In
the months before this Inquiry commenced, there had been several tragic incidents on
our city’s streets where pedestrians, cyclists, as well as drivers, had been killed or
seriously injured. More have taken place since.

1.4 Partnership Scrutiny

1.4.1 The Inquiry recognises that an effective citywide approach to make Birmingham’s
roads safer will only be achieved through organisations and the community working
together. Organisations such as West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands
Police, West Midlands Fire Service and West Midlands Ambulance Service have a
critical role to play. As such, the Inquiry has welcomed evidence from external
organisations and is grateful for their valuable contributions.
1.4.2 Overview and Scrutiny Inquiries report their key findings and make recommendations
to Council for the Executive to take forward. As Council can only agree
recommendations which the Council can action, this Inquiry will not be making

OFFICIAL
 recommendations to external organisations. Nevertheless, the Inquiry encourages all
organisations involved in tackling road safety to review this report and seek to support
its recommendations, where possible.

1.5 Evidence Gathering

1.5.1 Evidence gathering mainly took place between April and August 2024. A schedule of
the Inquiry’s activities is summarised in Appendix C. The activities were:
• Call for Evidence (Members) – responses were invited by email
• Call for Evidence (Community) – Be Heard survey (open 9 July 2024 – 6 August
2024)
• Two evidence gathering sessions – these were held informally with community
members (April) and West Midlands Combined Authority and West Midlands
Police (June).
• Two committee meetings – these were held in public involving the Cabinet
Member for Environment and Transport and Birmingham City Council officers
in July and August.
1.5.2 Some evidence previously provided to the Active Travel Inquiry was also relevant and
was reconsidered for this Inquiry2. This was relevant for 20s Plenty for Birmingham;
City of Wolverhampton Council; London Borough of Waltham Forest; Transport for
West Midlands; Sustrans; Pushbikes and Birmingham Living Streets.
1.5.3 Details of all organisations who provided evidence to the inquiry, either in person or in
writing, is set out in Appendices C and D.
1.5.4 The Inquiry received one response from Members contributing to this inquiry. This
information has been referred to within the report.
1.5.5 The Inquiry received 212 responses from community organisations. Appendix A sets
out the results from this survey. The Inquiry Group would like to thank everyone who
took the time to respond. Responses were submitted from over 60 identified
community organisations and groupings within approximately 27 different
neighbourhoods (Birchfield; Boldmere; Bournville; Brandwood; Castle Vale;
Cotteridge; Edgbaston; Erdington; Great Barr; Gravelly Hill; Hall Green North;
Handsworth; Handsworth Wood; Jewellery Quarter; Kings Heath; Moseley; Nechells;
Perry Barr; Quinton; Selly Oak; Small Heath; Soho; Sparkhill; Sutton Coldfield;
Tyseley; Ward End and Winson Green).

2 The Active Travel Inquiry reported to Council in July 2024. The final report can be accessed here.

15 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
1.6 Statutory and Legal Responsibilities
1.6.1 Appendix B sets out the relevant legislation for the Council as regards road safety.
Specifically, this report relates to:
• Section 39, Road Traffic Act (1988)
• Section 16, Traffic Management Act (2004)
1.6.2 While not a statutory or legal responsibility, the Public Health Outcomes Framework
includes indicators on unintended road related injury prevention3.

1.7 Strategic Framework – local and regional

1.7.1 As well as the statutory and legal duties for the Council, activities to contribute towards
making the city’s roads safer fall within the following strategic framework:
• Regional Road Safety Strategy 2023-2030 – this strategy covers the West
Midlands and its 7 Local Authority areas after its former strategy (2019-2028)
was refreshed and updated. It was developed by the West Midlands Combined
Authority (WMCA). An action plan to deliver this strategy was launched on 6
November which is based on the Safe System approach. It focuses on Safe
Speeds; Safe Vehicles; Safe Road and Roadsides, and Safe Road Use.
• West Midlands Police and Crime Plan 2021-2025 – again, this plan covers the
West Midlands region. It seeks to support the regional road safety strategy
above as well as set out the commitments for the Police and Crime
Commissioner to be delivered through West Midlands Police. A new Police and
Crime Plan is currently under development.
• Birmingham Road Harm Reduction Strategy – a new citywide strategy is in
development to reduce road harm risk and aligned to the regional road safety
strategy and Birmingham Transport Plan.
• Birmingham Transport Plan – this plan contains a set of principles to guide
investment in transport so that it is able to serve a future Birmingham that is
home to more people and that is a better environment in which to live and work
for everyone irrespective of age, disability or income. It complements the
region’s Local Transport Plan.
Specifically for road safety, the measures in the Birmingham Transport Plan are
designed to:

3 The Public Health outcomes framework concentrates on increased healthy life expectancy, reduced differences in
life expectancy and healthy life expectancy between communities. Included in Part B – Wider determinants of Health
is the indicator, B10- Killed and seriously injured (KSIs) casualties on England’s roads.

OFFICIAL
o Eliminate road danger particularly in residential areas
o Connect people with new job and training opportunities
o Reconnect communities by prioritising people over cars
o Revitalise the city centre and local centres

17 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
2 Key Findings
2.1 Scale and Nature
2.1.1 There are significant concerns about the safety of all road users within the city. This
is demonstrated from the information directly provided to the inquiry from community
organisations across the city in the survey findings (as set out in Appendix A).
“The speeds some people reach on my local roads…are highly dangerous”
“The situation is dire and needs urgent attention, and co-operation with the police.
People drive and park in deeply dangerous ways, and people are being killed by it. The
entitlement of drivers and their general disregard for pedestrian and cyclist safety is
genuinely scary”.
“I have 3 small children. We live a 5 minute walk away from school. They like to take
their bikes or scooters. It is extremely difficult to get them to school in a calm, safe
manor (sic). Often cars don’t slow down around the school because they’re in a rush
to find a space. Every day I see unsafe parking on double yellows and cars blocking
the very few drop curbs. It needs to change. We need safer roads around the school
which in my opinion means closing the road to vehicles at appropriate times to allow
children to feel safe”.
2.1.2 Reviewing local media coverage in recent years and months further reinforces the
concerns of the community, as well as highlighting the impact road fatalities has had
on families living in our city. In February 2024, the Birmingham Mail front page
headline was ‘Stop the Fatal Road Carnage’ and ‘Call for Action as death toll soars
since start of 20234. In July 2024, three people were killed and four people injured on
the city’s roads in less than one single week. So far in 2024, 14 people have been
killed on our city’s roads5.
2.1.3 The Inquiry was advised that between 2019-2022 (excluding 20206), 40% of fatalities
associated with Road Traffic Collision in the West Midlands occurred in Birmingham.
This is broadly proportionate with the comparative size and population of Birmingham
compared to the other Local Authorities within the region. During this same time frame,

4 Birmingham Mail, 27 February 2024 accessed via Hold the Front Page
https://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2024/news/city-daily-highlights-road-safety-crisis/
5 As of 31 October 2024 and based on STATS19 data provided by West Midlands Police. This compares with 18

(2023) and 23 (2022). STATS19 also indicates that there were 417 killed and seriously injured (KSIs) through total
road traffic collisions in 2023 compared with 449 in 2022 and 399 in 2021.
6 As the year of pandemic restrictions inevitably led to significant fewer journeys, this year is not considered as

representative for comparison purposes.

OFFICIAL
 there was an 8% reduction in killed and seriously injured (pedestrians) and 5.5%
reduction (cyclists) across the West Midlands7.
2.1.4 The West Midlands Combined Authority indicated that a more detailed ‘deep dive’ as
regards vulnerable road users may be helpful to inform future activity8.
2.1.5 The Inquiry Group were advised that the four main causes of road deaths, ‘the fatal
four’ are linked to9:
• Distraction – for example, the use of mobile phones while driving
• Speeding
• Impairment – for example, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Seatbelt compliance – i.e. driving without a seatbelt.
2.1.6 This supports the key issues highlighted by community organisations to the inquiry,
both in the face-to-face evidence gathering session as well as through the survey10.
The range of issues raised included:
• Speeding – feedback included that people were exceeding the speed limit, as
well as the actual limits on some roads were too high
• Dangerous or inconsiderate parking – both on the road and on the pavement
• People using mobile phones while driving
• Congestion around schools
2.1.7 Community evidence also referred to dissatisfaction with how well organisations are
currently tackling these issues11. For example:
• Lack of enforcement to tackle parking
• People driving without insurance

7 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime
Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024. It is also important to note that the absolute number
for cyclists is low and so any percentage change can seem disproportionately significant.
8 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime

Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.

9 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime

Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024. For further reference, see Department of Transport,
reported road casualties Great Britain, fatal 4 factsheet, 2023. However, as this is STATS19 data, Council officers
raised subsequent concerns that because of the way this data is collected and compiled, it is likely to be variable
dependent on the person recording the data. As such, whilst this data provides a valuable resource, conclusions
drawn from this data should be treated cautiously.
10Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024 and survey, Appendix A
11 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024 and survey, Appendix A

19 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 2.1.8 The Inquiry Group heard about links between driving without insurance and committing
other offences12. At a national level, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) advised that
‘every 20 minutes someone in the UK is hit by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver and,
tragically, each day at least one person suffers injuries so severe they need life-long
care’13. The inquiry was concerned to learn that 5 out of the top 15 postcodes nationally
for uninsured drivers are in Birmingham14. West Midlands Police highlighted two
current operations: Operation Tutelage – a joint operation between the Police and
Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) to increase levels of compliance; and Operation Scalis
to remove unsafe vehicles from our roads. There were 123 vehicles were removed in
2022.
2.1.9 When someone dies or is injured on the city’s roads, survivors and bereaved families
are the ones most directly affected. However, it indirectly affects everyone within the
city too. The total societal cost of killed and seriously injured casualties in the West
Midlands for 2023 was £444 million. Road deaths and serious injuries in Birmingham
during 2023 account for approximately £205 million of the regional costs (almost
50%). The costs are calculated annually based on estimated real costs for lost output,
medical and ambulance, police, insurance and damage to property. Currently every
fatality is estimated to cost £2.4 million, and when a person is seriously injured,
£271,00015.
2.1.10 The Inquiry was advised that there is a correlation between miles travelled by vehicles
and the numbers of killed and seriously injured (KSIs) road users. For example, the
number reduced in 2020 (year of pandemic) but rose again as the number of vehicle
journeys increased again16. West Midlands Combined Authority and West Midlands
Police highlighted that supporting people to make choices to use other modes of
transport (for example, to walk, cycle or use public transport) will make roads safer 17.
Community evidence indicates that the city’s current public transport network

12 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime
Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.
13 Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) Uninsured driving crackdown takes over 3, 700 cars off the road, 28 December 2023

https://www.mib.org.uk/media-centre/news/2023/december/uninsured-driving-crackdown-takes-over-3-700-cars-off-
the-road/
14 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime

Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024 but updated on 11 November 2024 to reflect latest
figures.
15 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime

Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024. Updated 8 November 2024.
16 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime

Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.

17 This is also reflected in the Committee’s recent Active Travel Inquiry. This Inquiry was reported to Council in July

2024. The final report can be accessed here.

OFFICIAL
 (compared to other UK cities) did not enable people to always have a realistic choice
from driving18.
2.1.11 The community evidence also indicated that if people do not feel safe using other
transport options, they are less likely to choose them over their own vehicle. From the
community survey, 70.8% felt either unsafe or very unsafe walking in their
neighbourhood. This rose even higher when people were driving (71.7%) and cycling
(86.8%)19.
2.1.12 The Inquiry Group felt that these feelings are not only about road safety but may be
influenced by fears of other crime and anti-social behaviour as well as the overall feel
of their neighbourhood20. One of the community members at the face-to-face session
described how Coventry Road (A45) ‘is like a motorway now’. As a result, she felt
uncomfortable walking near it or letting her children walk near it21.
2.1.13 Key Finding 1: Despite reductions over the years 2019-2022, incidents of road harm
caused by KSIs (Killed or Seriously Injured) remain at an alarming and unacceptable
level. This is not an inevitability for cities like Birmingham. Communities are concerned
and our road safety crisis has become increasingly more prominent in the local media.
2.1.14 Key Finding 2: The main four causes of road harm are likely to be distraction,
speeding, impairment and seatbelt non-compliance.
2.1.15 Key Finding 3: Road harm, including KSIs, carries an enormous financial burden to
the public, with road casualties costing approximately £205 million in Birmingham
annually.
2.1.16 Key Finding 4: Birmingham has four of the top 15 postcodes for driving uninsured.
National evidence shows a correlation between drivers with no insurance and
increased risks for road safety.
2.1.17 Key Finding 5: Unsafe roads contribute to more people feeling unsafe to walk, to
cycle, or use public transport, and instead opt to drive.
2.1.18 Key Finding 6: Residents often feel they must use private vehicles due to limited
public transport infrastructure. Birmingham lacks a fully integrated, city-wide mass
transit public transport and active travel network compared to London. Furthermore,
how safe people feel is also an important factor in choosing to use public transport.
Improving safety and perceptions of safety is equally important.

18 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024

19 Inquiry Survey, Appendix A
20 Note that the survey did not ask people to identify other reasons why they may feel safe/ unsafe in their

neighbourhood.
21 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024

21 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 2.1.19 Key Finding 7: Reducing the number of individual vehicle journeys and speeds
improves road safety. Other partner organisations such as the West Midlands
Combined Authority and West Midlands Police also recognise this. People need to
have other choices through reallocation of road space. This Council needs to rapidly
increase and improve its delivery of pedestrianisation and segregated cycling
infrastructure to meet its targets (this was also raised by the Active Travel Inquiry
agreed by Council in July 2024). The Council needs to ensure this change of pace
and delivery considers the needs of all Birmingham’s communities and citizens, in
particular, people with disabilities and long-term health conditions through its Equality
Impact Assessments.
2.1.20 Key Finding 8: Some journeys, particularly over longer distances, may require people
to use a car. All drivers have a personal responsibility to not drive dangerously.

Ref Recommendation to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date

Members
R01 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for March 2025
Council asks the Cabinet Member for Environment and (3 months)
Environment and Transport to engage Transport
with the West Midlands Police and
Crime Commissioner and West
Midlands Police to understand how the
Council can support activities to tackle
driving without insurance offences.
R02 Recommendation: Leader of the Council/ January 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Member Cabinet Member for (1 month)
for Environment and Transport with the Environment and
Leader of the Council, Deputy Leader, Transport
Mayor for West Midlands and all
Birmingham MPs to write a letter and
continue to lobby the Department for
Transport to request funding for a
London quality public transport and
active travel network so there are
alternatives to driving.

OFFICIAL
2.2 Strategy & Policy
Road Harm Reduction Strategy
2.2.1 At the time of writing, it is anticipated that a new Road Harm Reduction Strategy for
Birmingham is shortly to be adopted. The current Road Safety Strategy has not been
refreshed since 2016 and no longer aligns as it should with relevant regional and local
strategies. This includes the West Midlands regional refreshed road safety strategy
and the Birmingham Transport Plan. A new Road Harm Reduction Strategy is a
welcome step. It ensures both strategic and delivery activity will, in the future, fit
together and pull in the same direction, thereby maximising its impact.
2.2.2 This new strategy is intended to enable the Council to discharge its statutory duties
under the Road Traffic Act 1988 to promote road safety and to take appropriate
measures to prevent collisions.
2.2.3 The ambition of the proposed strategy is to end death and serious injuries for users of
Birmingham’s roads, in line with the ‘Vision Zero’ concept, which aspires to eliminate
all traffic fatalities and serious injuries. It follows ‘Safe System’ principles and adopts
the globally successful ‘Healthy Streets’ to gradually transform Birmingham’s streets22.

Diagram 1: Healthy Streets Indicators

2.2.4 The Healthy Streets approach includes 10 evidence-based Healthy Streets Indicators,
each describing an aspect of the human experience of being on streets. These ten
must be prioritised and balanced to improve social, economic and environmental
sustainability through how our streets are designed and managed (Diagram 1). This

22Road Harm Reduction Strategy consultation, accessed 8 November 2024. This is the Birmingham City Council
consultation on the proposed new strategy, which was open from 8 January 2024 until 5 April 2024.

23 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 approach can be applied to any streets, anywhere in the world. It builds improvements
on existing conditions rather than seeking a fixed end goal. Taking this approach
requires incremental changes in all aspects of the decision-making processes related
to streets and transport23.
2.2.5 The proposed Road Harm Reduction Strategy aligns with the Birmingham Transport
Plan Delivery Plan spatial framework of corridors, neighbourhoods and centres.

Road Safety Emergency

2.2.6 In July 2024, the Council declared a Road Safety Emergency in response to calls from
the community. When providing evidence to the Inquiry, the Cabinet Member for
Environment and Transport, Councillor Majid Mahmood, emphasised how any
response to this emergency ‘…needs to be done in partnership to make an impact…’ 24.
Both Cllr Majid Mahmood and the Cabinet Member for Social Justice, Community
Safety and Equalities, Councillor Nicky Brennan, collectively wrote to the Chief
Constable on 26 July 2024 to request a Road Safety Gold meeting was set up, which
would enable a multi-agency response to be coordinated. This letter also requested
additional mobile speed enforcement vehicles to be deployed and additional road
traffic policing units.
2.2.7 The Inquiry Group was advised that the first Gold meeting had taken place involving
senior officers from West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council. As a result,
positive developments had already taken place including25:
• Timely information sharing between the Police and the Council to ensure
Council activity can have greatest impact – this has included a proposal for
debriefs between Police and Council officers within 7 days following any fatality
as well as intelligence to support the deployment of civil parking enforcement
officers and highways maintenance staff from KIER. A further discussion on
other ways to achieve better information sharing has also been scheduled.
• West Midlands Police have increased staff resources dedicated to road safety.
2.2.8 While the Inquiry Group welcomed the declaration of this commitment and the
information provided on activity to date in its August’s committee meeting, the Inquiry

23 Healthy Streets is an evidence-based approach to creating fairer, sustainable and attractive urban spaces. Every
decision we make about our built environment, however small, is an opportunity to deliver better places for people to
live in and thereby improve their health. The Healthy Streets Approach is a human-centred framework for embedding
public health in transport, public realm and planning.
24 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

25 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

OFFICIAL
 Group felt it needed further information on what it will tangibly mean and expressed
concerns how it will be delivered upon without firm resource commitments.

Community Role
2.2.9 The Inquiry Group heard how there was a greater role community stakeholders can
play around the development of strategy and policy as well as operational
interventions. The Inquiry Group heard examples from Better Streets for Birmingham
about how it was working with Birmingham City Council. This was in addition to other
examples highlighted by community organisations to the Active Travel Inquiry. There
were also examples provided by the Sheldon Traffic Action Group (STAG) about how
the Council was not working with them.
2.2.10 The Inquiry Group heard how these community organisations felt there were
unexplored opportunities for the community to work alongside statutory services to
achieve common goals around safer roads. They described how ‘communities need to
see ownership of what isn’t working and inspiration on what we can do even if it is a
long journey (such as asking for legislation change)’. When asked to give a score out
of 10 for how empowered they felt to make a change, the average score was 3 and no
score was higher than 5. They asked what more could be done, how can we work
better together to prevent issues happening in the first place and how can community
capacity be strengthened26.
2.2.11 The Inquiry Group was advised that people needed to have more information on what
works and will make a difference. Another suggestion referred to professionals ‘in the
room’ engaging with residents in engagement activities, so the Council and
communities can map solutions together27.
2.2.12 The session with community members also referred to the challenges of securing a
consensus within different neighbourhoods and communities and acknowledging that
this may not be possible. There was discussion that attention is often with those who
do not like change and too little work with the majority in favour of intervention: “We
need to put in infrastructure and enforcement rather than asking nicely” 28. The Low
Traffic Neighbourhoods were cited as examples which have led to frustrations.
2.2.13 Community members at this session also highlighted that there was a ‘disconnect (in
the Council) between ambition and delivery. The volume of change needed has to be
approached more decisively’29. Similar points had been made in the Active Travel

26 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024

27 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024
28 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024
29 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024

25 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 Inquiry30. They requested more transparency and accountability to hold the Council to
account.
2.2.14 Key Finding 9: Failure to make in-roads to prevent road harm has led to increased
pressure on the Council and partners to deal with incidents. While a proposed new
Road Harm Reduction Strategy is in the pipeline, the current strategy has not been
updated since 2016. The Road Safety Emergency is welcomed but there remains a
lack of understanding about what this means and how this changes partner and
Council operations.
2.2.15 Key Finding 10: There is a disconnect between policy and delivery: transport policy
by Birmingham City Council is praised by all partners, whereas our delivery of projects
is criticised in equal measure. This was also raised in the Active Travel Inquiry agreed
by Council in July 2024.

30
This Inquiry was reported to Council in July 2024. The final report can be accessed here.

OFFICIAL
Ref Recommendation to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date
Members
R03 Recommendation: Leader of the Council/ March 2025
Council asks the Leader of the Council Cabinet Member for (3 months)
and Executive, to share the action plan Environment and
for the Road Safety Emergency with a Transport
report to council. This action plan
should clearly set out how it commits
to deliver including what will happen,
timescales and how any council
activity will be funded. It should also
be clear on how it will demonstrate
how it is making a difference.
R04 Recommendation: Leader of the Council June 2025
Council seeks assurances from the / Cabinet Member for (6 months)
Leader that the current Cabinet the Environment and
Member portfolio arrangements enable Transport/ Cabinet
the Council to deliver on the Road Member for Social
Safety Emergency. Justice, Community
Safety and Equalities
R05 Recommendation: Deputy Leader December 2025
Council to ask the Deputy Leader to (12 months)
provide assurances that the Council's
adopted policies are sufficient to tackle
car dependency by supporting the
transformation of the city through
improving the quality and scale of
public transport and active travel
provision, whilst systemically reducing
road harm risk. This should also
consider the level of population density
needed to sustain integrated public
transport and active travel networks.

27 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
2.3 Physical Infrastructure
2.3.1 The community session highlighted that they felt that the city had a ‘car centric’
approach. Roads seem to be designed for the benefit of cars only, rather than people.
They also felt that the available budget to tackle road safety is very small. Sheldon
Traffic Action Group suggested that monies generated from fines (for example,
speeding) should be ringfenced and reinvested into local areas for road safety physical
measures.31
2.3.2 In response to this, the Inquiry Group welcomed the suggestion from Lea Forest
Primary Academy how the Council needs to consider places holistically, and this
included highlighting the value of investment to support different travel options32. They
suggested ‘road condition and collision study considering broader issues than just the
road itself’. For example, the street lighting or foliage as well – all of which may have
an impact on safety for road users.
2.3.3 Lea Forest Primary Academy also highlighted concerns about how road improvements
are assessed. For example, the assessment criteria are based on the number of killed
or serious injured people. There is a question whether this criteria effectively captures
the level and nature of the risk. They stressed how 560 children attend their school
and inferred that information such as this should also be considered33.
2.3.4 Officers from the Council’s Place, Prosperity and Sustainability Directorate advised
that the potential for traditional engineering solutions had been reached as a city34.
This supported the need to explore other ways to make roads safer within Birmingham.
The Birmingham Transport Plan and proposed Road Harm Reduction Strategy are in
response to this.
2.3.5 At the evidence session with community groups, there were concerns raised about
how long it took to implement schemes (both schemes designed to address road safety
directly, as well as schemes with other benefits such as Active Travel). The Inquiry
Group were aware through evidence provided to the Active Travel Inquiry and through
their own ward work, as well as from other Members, that the delivery of schemes,
including local ward based schemes, is not always timely35.
2.3.6 These schemes are delivered through two Council directorates – City Operations
(Highways and Infrastructure) and Place, Prosperity and Sustainability (PPS)

31 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024

32 Letter from Lea Forest Primary Academy dated 17 May 2024. This letter was submitted to the Inquiry by Councillor
Marj Bridle as part of the Member evidence gathering (see 1.5.1 and Appendix C).
33
Letter from Lea Forest Primary Academy dated 17 May 2024.
34 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

35 This Inquiry was reported to Council in July 2024. The final report can be accessed here.

OFFICIAL
 (Transport and Connectivity). However, the Inquiry Group felt it is difficult to know who
is accountable for the delivery of a scheme. The visibility and transparency of all
schemes to councillors and the public is important.
2.3.7 Officers from the Council’s Place, Prosperity and Sustainability directorate (PPS)
advised, if implemented, the relevant recommendations from the Active Travel Inquiry
will make a difference to the delivery timeframe of schemes and accountability36.
2.3.8 The Inquiry Group also raised concerns whether the current delivery model for
schemes generates delays in the pace of delivery. For example, there are no penalties
for delays in delivering schemes as well as the governance pathways.
2.3.9 The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport highlighted opportunities for ward
members to access funds for schemes in their local wards through the new
Environment and Transport Neighbourhood Fund (ETNF)37. Schemes that aim to make
a positive contribution towards road harm reduction, active travel, air quality
improvements, reductions to carbon emissions and climate change mitigations may be
supported through this fund.
2.3.10 This new fund replaces the former Ward Minor Transport Measures (WMTM) and
incorporates Brum Breathes fund and additional budget from net surplus revenues
from the Clean Air Zone. The Inquiry Group heard that some wards had not accessed
the WMTM budget, as ward plans had not been in place38. However, the Inquiry Group
was concerned that the overall level of funding in place for the ETNF is not on par with
the total available funding to individual wards through the previous schemes. They also
felt that wards which had been proactive and had developed approved schemes
through the Brum Breathes fund would be penalised39.
2.3.11 The types of measures that might be supported through the ETNF could include, but
are not limited to, the following: minor junction re-design, traffic reduction measures,
active travel improvements, school streets, parking controls or restrictions, verge
protection measures, green infrastructure (planting, trees, parklets, but not high-
maintenance floral displays), provision of parking facilities for those with disabilities
and mobility difficulties such as advisory disabled bay markings, de-cluttering of street

36 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee, 22 August 2024
37 This fund was approved by Cabinet on 25 June 2024 (Transportation & Highways Delivery Programme 2024/25 to

2029/30 - Annual Programme Update). In both 2024/25 and 2025/26, the total funding available through this scheme
will be £20,000 per annum (single member ward) and £40,000 per annum (two member wards).
38 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

39 As the ETNF includes an element of unused funding from the Brum Breathes Fund the allocation of funding to

wards, up to the end of March 2026, will be on a pro-rata basis.

In practice this will mean that any ward with an approved application to the Brum Breathes Fund (up to the end of
August 2024) will have that funding allocation deducted from any allocation they may have received from the ETNF.

29 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 infrastructure and road markings, inclusive streetscapes (dropped kerbs, crossing
enhancements, benches, etc) and air quality monitors. Officers from PPS suggested
that there may be cost efficiencies through economies of scale for the ETNF fund. For
example, if multiple wards wanted to invest in schemes requiring new kerbing, the
Council will be able to secure cheaper unit costs if this is purchased together rather
than by individual scheme40. This will require coordination throughout the programme
to achieve.

Speed Limits
2.3.12 There is a link between reducing area speed limits and reducing the numbers of people
killed or seriously injured on roads41. The Council’s Place, Prosperity and
Sustainability directorate advised that a key area for future delivery will be to reduce
remaining 40mph speed limits to 30mph to provide city wide consistency. A business
case for £600,000 has been approved to support this work, and consultation on new
Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) to deliver it, commenced in November. Subject to
the consultation outcome, works for some of the approved schemes could start in early
2025.
2.3.13 The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, Councillor Majid Mahmood, also
advised he had sent a letter to Government requesting 20mph zone for the whole of
Birmingham; he is currently awaiting a response. He highlighted that the recent
introduction of this zone in Wales had highlighted there would be cost implications for
the Council in implementing this42.
2.3.14 Key Finding 11: Birmingham’s roads have been designed around motor vehicles.
Residents who contributed to the inquiry felt there is more the Council can do with the
design of roads to prevent road harm incidents.
2.3.15 Key Finding 12: The pace of scheme delivery may be undermined by the current
delivery model. The Inquiry Group felt that this was due to the cost recovery business
model in place as well as the governance pathways.
2.3.16 Key Finding 13: Members struggle to have clarity on who is responsible for schemes.
This is particularly problematic to understand when delays in delivery occur; who is
accountable and what are the actions to be taken. This Inquiry recognises that the
Council has already made recommendations through the recent Active Travel Inquiry

40 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee, 22 August 2024
41 Safe Systems – Safe Speeds factsheet, BRAKE (accessed 9 November 2024)
42 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

OFFICIAL
 to address this, however what this Inquiry has learned reiterates the need for this to be
addressed.

Ref Recommendation to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date

Members
R06 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for March 2025
Council seeks assurances from the Environment and (3 months)
Cabinet Member for Environment Transport
and Transport that the cost
recovery model in place for
schemes delivers value for money
with a report to the Sustainability
and Transport Overview and
Scrutiny Committee. This report
should outline how alternative
options (such as a set fee for each
scheme) have been considered and
why they have been rejected.
R07 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for March 2025
Council requests that the Cabinet Environment and (3 months)
Member for Environment and Transport
Transport ensures all ward
members have a plain-speaking
guide to support them to utilise
effectively their Environment &
Transport Neighbourhood Fund
allocation. This guide should
provide information on evidence
based ‘what works’. It should also
be regularly reviewed and updated
when new ideas are tested.

31 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
2.4 Parking
2.4.1 The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) provides data on various
types of parking controls and their implications on road safety43. While this summary
was produced in 2012, it still indicates that on-street parking may be linked with an
increased number of incidents for all road users. West Midlands Police and West
Midlands Combined Authority supported this view when they met with the Inquiry
Group44.
2.4.2 The inquiry group session with community members as well as the survey responses
highlighted the level of concern with illegal and poor parking45.
“Parking on corners is frequently an issue as a clear view of the road to left and right
can be obscured”.
“My biggest concern is the parking of cars on pavements with no consideration for
parents with prams and pushchairs and more importantly people with mobility
problems who use wheelchairs or scooters. Parking on pavements should be made
illegal across the whole of Birmingham. These inconsiderate drivers are forcing the
young and the vulnerable onto the cities (sic) roads which is unsafe”.
“…the scale of terrible, inconsiderate and dangerous parking is unbelievable and
seems to be growing”.
2.4.3 From a resident perspective, the Inquiry was advised that there is confusion about
which organisation deals with enforcement of which type of parking, as well as
frustrations about how to report the issue and the response. 80.7% of survey
respondents were either unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with the level of parking
enforcement in their neighbourhood46.
2.4.4 Better Streets for Birmingham highlighted that the Council does not have the resources
to tackle everything on road safety and should focus on what is achievable. They
highlighted pavement parking as an example of this 47. West Midlands Police
questioned whether it would be possible to meet expectations for parking enforcement.

43 The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) hosts a Road Safety Observatory which aims to provide
information on road safety to anyone working in the sector and members of the public. Their factsheet on parking can
be accessed here.
44 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime

Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.

45 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024 and survey, Appendix A
46 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024 and survey, Appendix A
47 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024

OFFICIAL
 Officers from the Council’s Highways and Infrastructure service also shared these
concerns48.
2.4.5 Through the different evidence sessions with the Council and the Police, a discussion
point focused on ‘how can we help people to understand the difference in enforcement
roles between Council and Police, so people are going to the right organisation the first
time’. However, the feedback from the evidence session with community organisations
suggested that residents want things to be done without having to understand which
organisation is responsible49.

Legislation
2.4.6 The Inquiry Group received information from officers in Highways and Infrastructure
on the relevant legislation they can use to tackle parking (set out in Appendix B). Key
points from the Inquiry Group are:
• Council and use of Third Party evidence – more use of third party evidence
would be welcomed by the community members the inquiry group spoke to 50.
It could potentially enable more extensive coverage of the city and deliver better
levels of service and satisfaction for residents (subject to effective resource
levels to process the information). The current legislation does not allow the
Council to use third party evidence to issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN),
although it does enable the Council to use it for intelligence purposes51.
• Police and use of Third Party evidence – the powers available to the Police do
allow them to use Third Party evidence for enforcement. This inconsistency,
although rooted in legislation, frustrates residents. The Office for the West
Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner highlighted how they had secured
funding through the Safer Streets funding, round 5 to support third party
reporting mechanisms.
• Evidence required for a PCN52 – a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) is required
to gather information including vehicle registration number, make and model of

48 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime
Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024 and Evidence Gathering session, Work Programme at
the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee, 13 June 2024
49 This point was raised at all of the evidence gathering sessions outlined in Appendix C.
50 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024
51 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 13 June 2024

52 “The cost of PCNs for parking contraventions in England (outside London) has not been increased for a number of

years. The current costs are £70 or £50 (depending on the offence), reduced to £35 or £25 if paid within 14 days.
Compared to the road danger of the parking activity, this is a very low cost. It also means there are locations where
parking illegally and paying the charge are similar to the cost of paid for legal parking.”

33 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 vehicle, details of the contravention, location and time (to provide evidence that
the vehicle was parked in contravention). Set observation periods by the CEO
may also be required before the PCN can be issued. This information can only
be recorded on devices that have been officially certified to be used to collect
evidence that may result in PCNs being issued. This certification helps ensure
that the evidence gathered is legally robust and can withstand scrutiny if
challenged via appeals to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT).
2.4.7 The Inquiry Group also noted that the legislation underpinning pavement and verge
parking enforcement is different for Greater London than for the rest of England,
including Birmingham53. Outside of Greater London, pavement parking is generally not
prohibited unless specific Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) are in place. The previous
Government consulted upon options to amend legislation to provide additional powers
for Local Authorities outside Greater London in 201954. Officers from Highways and
Infrastructure are monitoring current Government intent with regards to this subject.
2.4.8 The Inquiry Group was advised that a relevant and overarching Traffic Regulation
Order is in place to prohibit parking on pavements and verges55. However, adequate
signage would need to be provided and maintained on specific streets to make the
Order enforceable. This would incur costs and the approach would not generate the
funding required to resource associated enforcement 56. There was some concern from
the Inquiry Group that measures to tackle issues such as this were not more
consistently known amongst ward councillors and officers, and this may mean
opportunities are being missed.
2.4.9 The only other relevant legislation which has been used by Local Authorities is section
72 of the 1835 Highways Act. This section deals with the prohibition of allowing
animals and carriages to travel on footways. It has been accepted by magistrates as

53 Section 15, Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1974 prohibits vehicles from parking on footways, grass
verges, and other parts of the highway that are not designated carriageways. This provision is geographically specific
to Greater London and grants Local Authorities in that area the powers to regulate and enforce restrictions on parking
in these non-carriageway areas.
54 This consultation took place in 2020. The Department for Transport consulted on the DfT is seeking your views on

whether its ongoing work to improve the TRO process, under which local authorities can already prohibit pavement
parking, is sufficient and proportionate to tackle pavement parking where it is a problem; or whether legislative change
to allow local authorities with civil parking enforcement (CPE) power enforce against ‘unnecessary obstruction of the
pavement) or legislative change to introduce a London-style pavement parking prohibition throughout England would
provide better tools for local authorities. (These options had been identified through the department’s review of
pavement parking and echoed by the Transport Committee). They were also interested in understanding any other
alternative proposals you may have for managing pavement parking
55 Where specific parking restrictions are in place, these cover the entire extent of the public highway, including verges

and footway. This means that Civil Enforcement Officers are able to issues Penalty Charge Notices for vehicles
parked in contravention, including on the footway. In this regard, permit parking controls are particularly effective,
offering a degree of self-enforcement and providing a revenue stream to fund formal enforcement activity.
56 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

OFFICIAL
 meaning that a parked vehicle can only have got on the footway by travelling across it
and is therefore guilty of an offence. The very age and nature of this legislation
reinforces the idea that the legislation is not meeting the needs of today.
2.4.10 It would still be required (to use section 72, 1835 Highways Act) to have evidence to
identify the driver at the time the offence occurs, which may be challenging to resource
adequately through both the Police and Council. The Cabinet Member for Environment
and Transport highlighted he was keen to support a regional request to Government
for the West Midlands to receive similar powers to London and Scotland, which may
be a more achievable approach57.

Council’s Parking Service Review

2.4.11 The Inquiry Group was advised that the Council Parking Service is undergoing a full
and detailed service review. This will lead to a new service specification and
procurement of a new enforcement contract. (The current contract expires on 31
January 2026). The review commenced in July 2024 and is scheduled to conclude by
end March 2025.
2.4.12 This independent review will provide an initial baseline of the service, as well as further
advice regarding future service strategy and direction. The aim of the review is to
assess all areas across the service to:
• Develop a new operating model and future enforcement contract which aligns
with and supports the Council’s strategic ambition and policies. It should also
provide the Council with the flexibility to change direction, as and when required.
• Ensure the future enforcement contract promotes coherency across services to
further drive efficiencies and savings.
• Ensure the service is robust, operates efficiently with streamlined processes
and demonstrates value for money.
• Benchmark fees and charges for On- and Off-Steet parking, ensuring they are
in line with the market and Council policies58.
• Ensure the service is data and information led, responsive to customer,
stakeholder and Council demand and can make information led decisions.
• Set out a strategic asset management plan and future digital technology
strategy road map.

57Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee, 22 August 2024
58 Officers confirmed that a benchmarking exercise is being undertaken with Leeds.

35 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 2.4.13 Officers from the Council’s Highways and Infrastructure service advised that they
would like to carry out more parking enforcement59. Their intention had been initially
to tender a new 5-10 year enforcement contract. However, they had reviewed this
decision and instead, decided to tender a 2 year extension (at a cost of £4.35m per
annum); this would enable this root and branch service review. The review will inform
a new long-term contract from 2026, which will be fit for purpose to meet the policy and
direction the Council needs to go in.
2.4.14 Parking reports are made to the Council via a web form. These reports are then
collated and details shared with the current enforcement provider, NSL, to action.
Where reports are received outside of working hours, there may be a delay in passing
the details to NSL.
2.4.15 The Inquiry Group heard that an Annual Parking report will be reintroduced. Data has
now started to be collected this year to inform it60.

Reporting illegal and antisocial parking

2.4.16 45.8% of the survey respondents had reported parking issues to Birmingham City
Council. 65.1% were either unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with the level of service after
reporting to the Council. While the actual percentage should be treated with some
caution (the numbers of respondents reporting levels of satisfaction exceeded the
number of respondents who had actually reported to the Council), the further
comments provided by respondents indicate areas for the Council to explore and are
summarised in 2.4.2061. This was further reinforced by the feedback from the
community evidence session.
“Parking action is not swift and flexible enough to respond”.
“No response at all. Submitted multiple reports a month over a year and received not
a single response back. Described several scenarios ranging from obstructive parking
preventing access for my wheelchair, to abuse shouted at me by business owner who
parks their vehicles on double yellows repeatedly. Appalling that there was no
response at all”.
“When I reported a car which was on double yellow lines and partly blocking the
pavement. The Council replied with a thank you for contacting us, and I heard nothing
since. The Council seems very good at the first contact, i.e. sending out a

59 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee, 13 June 2024
60 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

61 Inquiry Survey, Appendix A

OFFICIAL
 communication to say we have received a report but absolutely terrible at actually
doing anything. You never hear from them again. I have absolutely no idea if my report
actually led to the car being prosecuted?”
2.4.17 As well as confusion over which organisation to report to, the Inquiry Group found there
are multiple platforms for people to use to report related issues including the Council
(phone/ website) for parking enforced by the Council62; Nextbase (used by West
Midlands Police) for parking enforced by the Police and Fix My Street (for parking
enforced by the Council)63. Each platform has a different user experience. A significant
majority of the survey respondents had not used either Nextbase or Fix My Street to
report issues64.
2.4.18 The Inquiry Group was concerned that multiple platforms added extra confusion to
reporting issues to residents. Community members at the evidence gathering session
also agreed. The Inquiry Group was also concerned about how effectively these
platforms integrated with Council systems. Without this, it will be more challenging to
respond to the issues residents are raising.
2.4.19 While the Council’s reporting system has been used more by survey respondents than
the other platforms highlighted, the satisfaction levels for the Council compared to
other options are lower. Nextbase, in particular, was highlighted for its feedback loop65.
West Midlands Police described Nextbase as ‘easy to use, accessible and intuitive. It
provided clear reporting lines and timelines with reported results’. The Council’s
Highways and Infrastructure service agreed that more work could be carried out to
improve the user experience for residents, and this is part of the service review (set
out in 2.4.11-2.4.13). They intended to learn from other Local Authorities to find out if,
and how, they could deliver better. They recognised that this would require a multi-
service approach66.
2.4.20 In summary, the areas highlighted by the community evidence gathering session and
survey for the Council to improve include67:

62 Enforcement requests are currently received from members of the public through various reporting channels such
as the Online web form for reporting illegal parking (www.birmingham.gov.uk/reportparking), telephone calls and
emails. The service also receives requests through Member Enquiries.
63 Nextbase is national dashcam reporting portal. West Midlands Police’s investigation of reports via this portal is

called Operation Snap. Nextbase does not send reports to the council. Fix My Street is a third party website which
sends reports to local councils on a variety of issues including parking enforced by the council. It does not send
reports to the Police.
64 Inquiry Survey, Appendix A
65 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024
66 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

67 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024 and Inquiry Survey Appendix A

37 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 • Website could be improved to make it easier to make a report. The menus are
too long and it doesn’t feel worth investing the time in.
• It takes too long for parking reports to be processed and for the complainant to
see any action (if at all).
• There is no feedback to complainants about what action has been taken.

How are parking complaints responded to by the Council?

2.4.21 In the first quarter of 2024/25, 1222 enforcement requests were logged with our
enforcement contractor following the requests received from members of the public.
(There were also an additional 54 enforcement requests received from ward members)
A breakdown of how these requests were reported to the Council is set out in Table
168:

No. of
Reported Via % Split
Requests
Online Web Form 817 66.9%
Phone call 164 13.4%
FixMyStreet 92 7.5%
Email 149 12.2%

Table 1: Parking Enforcement Requests to Birmingham City Council

2.4.22 A summary of the Council process is outlined as follows69:

1. Each enforcement request is assessed. This includes reviewing the details
provided within the request (and any photos, if provided) to determine
whether the vehicle(s) reported are parking in contravention.
2. If it is considered as a potential parking violation, the request is logged
internally and then emailed to NSL (enforcement contractor) for action. The
nature of the instruction for action to the contractor may vary according to
the nature of the request and the potential violation. Examples of
instructions could be for a one-off visit, or alternatively multiple follow up
visits to be planned over a set period.

68 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee, 22 August 2024. Table 1 excludes requests from Members.
69 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

OFFICIAL
 3. NSL will assign a Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) to attend the location as
soon as possible. If a CEO is close to the location, they may be assigned;
alternatively, a NSL Customer Response vehicle may be allocated instead.
4. Data is then collated from each CEO visit. This confirmed the number of
Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) and the number of vehicles moved on.
2.4.23 The Inquiry Group was advised that where reports are received outside of working
hours, there may be a delay in passing the details to NSL70.

Enforcement
2.4.24 The Inquiry Group recognised that to be a Parking Enforcement Officer in Birmingham
is an incredibly challenging job, and where staff have experienced physical violence
and verbal abuse; this is unacceptable71.
2.4.25 Table 2 shows the number of occasions our enforcement contractor has carried out
enforcement in the first quarter, in relation to the enforcement requests logged with
them. The table splits the requests out by enforcement beat72:

Beats 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 A B C D E F Totals
Apr-24 22 0 1 30 3 0 17 1 17 7 1 1 1 25 10 182 194 117 228 177 144 1178
May-24 5 0 0 21 3 0 1 1 3 0 2 6 4 8 10 263 253 280 274 206 178 1518
Jun-24 0 2 0 5 20 2 18 1 0 2 6 24 4 10 27 316 364 265 319 147 188 1720
Totals 27 2 1 56 26 2 36 3 20 9 9 31 9 43 47 761 811 662 821 530 510 4416

Table 2: Number of Enforcement visits in Q1 (April – June 2024) per enforcement beat

2.4.26 Table 3 shows the volume of both requested enforcement checks and the Penalty
Charges Notices (PCNs) issued for the first quarter of 2024/25. The table also shows
the full year statistics for 2023/2473. Specific requests associated to illegal footway
crossings are reported separately. These would usually lead to a single enforcement
visit rather than repeated inclusion in forthcoming beats.

70 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee, 22 August 2024
71 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-66732741
72 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024. Beats 1 to 15 are City Centre Beats, Beats A, E and F cover the North/East areas of the
city and Beats B, C and D covers the South/West areas of the city.
73 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

39 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 2024-25 2023-24
Requests PCNs Issued D-Kerb Req D-Kerb PCNs Requests PCNs Issued D-Kerb Req D-Kerb PCNs
Apr 1178 763 92 41 1123 944 70 34
May 1518 1040 94 34 1080 956 69 31
Jun 1720 1135 78 27 1155 1058 90 30
Jul 1058 1110 78 35
Aug 1312 946 88 34
Sep 886 724 101 41
Oct 1161 911 114 50
Nov 1104 617 115 47
Dec 1144 793 106 46
Jan 1378 1275 92 33
Feb 1566 1203 70 26
Mar 1126 779 82 37
Totals 4416 2938 264 102 14093 11316 1075 444

Table 3: Total Enforcement visits and total Penalty Charge Notices per month

2.4.27 The graph (diagram 2) below shows the yearly volumes of all Civil Parking
Enforcement (CPE) PCNs issued. Since Covid19, we are seeing a year-on-year uplift
for PCNs being issued to vehicles parked in violation74.

CPE PCNs Issued YOY

200,000

182,510
180,000
168,579

160,000

141,073 141,688 141,556

140,000 137,665

130,225
120,000
121,370

100,000
95,776

80,000
2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24

Diagram 2: Volume Penalty Charge Notices, year on year

2.4.28 The below data (table 4) shows the total volume of PCNs issued for parking violations
by month for the first quarter of 2024/25 and the comparison vs last year, continuing
to show an upward trend in CPE PCN volumes.

74Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee, 22 August 2024. The number of PCNs issued by CEO per hour have been on the increase Year On Year.
There are multiple factors that will be impacting this including; continued illegal parking, pro-active deployment of
CEOs to locations based on experience of issues, responding to enforcement requests. There has also been a
steady increase in CEO hours deployed.

OFFICIAL
 Parking PCNs by Year
2024/25 vs
2024- 2023- 2023/24
Month Cumulative
2025 2024
April 18,522 15,720 2,802 17.82%
May 17,445 16,659 786 4.72% 3,588 11.08%
June 17,971 14,865 3,106 20.89% 6,694 14.17%
Totals 53,938 47,244

Table 4: Total number of Penalty Charge Notices for parking violations, 2024 vs 2023

2.4.29 During the first quarter of 2024/25, NSL attended 24 joint enforcement operations
across the city at the request of West Midlands Police, with the aim of raising
enforcement presence and visibility, obtaining compliance with the parking restrictions
and reducing congestion in targeted areas. The Council is pro-actively engaging with
West Midlands Police for their support in joining the Service for further joint operations.
2.4.30 West Midlands Combined Authority proposed that increased enforcement action
around parking should be taken when poor parking was impacting upon the public
transport network, due to its wider impact. For example, parked cars in bus lanes75.
2.4.31 Key Finding 13: The Inquiry Group feels that the Council is not able to provide a fully
effective parking enforcement service. The community evidence gathering session and
survey respondents demonstrate that residents lack confidence in our ability to enforce
upon illegal parking. The Inquiry welcomes the service review underway, which has
been urgently needed.
2.4.32 Key Finding 14: Specifically, residents tell us how difficult it is to report parking issues
to the Council using the existing portal or an often engaged telephone line and deters
people from using it. As a result, the Council does not have an accurate picture of its
issues nor is it best able to deploy its resources on an intelligence led basis.
2.4.33 Key Finding 15: The Council cannot take direct enforcement action (for example,
issue Penalty Charge Notices) based on third party evidence. This is not the case with
West Midlands Police, and this is due to the current legislation. This limits the potential
opportunities for the Council to take the action it can.
2.4.34 Key Finding 16: To be a Parking Enforcement Officer in Birmingham is an incredibly
challenging job and where staff have experienced physical violence and verbal abuse,
this is unacceptable. However, the service is poorly viewed by residents as
inconsistent, particularly outside of working hours.

75Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime
Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.

41 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 2.4.35 Key Finding 17: The Inquiry Group feel that the Parking Enforcement service could
capture more data to improve its service delivery. Furthermore, while information has
been provided for this Inquiry, performance information is not routinely available to
Councillors and to the public.
2.4.36 Key Finding 18: There is an overlap between council and police powers. Residents
are often not clear who they should report different issues to. As a result, the Inquiry is
concerned issues are often passed back and forth between the agencies rather than
dealt with.
2.4.37 Key Finding 19: The Council has a city-wide Traffic Regulation Order banning
pavement parking. However, the inquiry is concerned that there is confusion amongst
officers about whether this is in place and how it can be applied. In light of this, other
measures may be put in place, potentially wasting resource.

Ref Recommendation to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date

Members
R08 Recommendation Cabinet Member for March 2025
Council requests that the Cabinet Environment and (3 months)
Member for Environment and Transport
Transport commits as part of the
current Parking Enforcement
service review:

• That the review is completed

by end March 2025 to
enable its recommendations
to be implemented as soon
as possible for Birmingham.
• Leads to a fully data led
service (including use of
information provided through
third party evidence)
• Contract tender developed
• Agrees to publish
information to the public on a
quarterly basis to understand
what activity is taking place
and whether it is making a
difference.
• Is satisfied that the current
maximum parking charges
cover the costs of running
the service and considers

OFFICIAL
 appropriate next steps if this
is not the case.
• Reintroduces the Annual
Parking report.
R09 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for June 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Environment and (6 months)
Member for Environment and Transport
Transport to outline the approach to
the Sustainability and Transport
Overview and Scrutiny Committee
to tackle pavement parking across
the city and the plan to achieve this.
This should cover but not
exclusively:

• How the current Traffic

Regulation Order can be
better utilised.
• How to tackle anti-social
parking caused by
businesses (including their
third party delivery services).

Further, activity to address this

including its impact should be
included in the Annual Parking
report.
R10 Recommendation:
Council requests the Leader,
Cabinet Member for Environment
and Transport and the Cabinet
Member for Digital, Culture,
Heritage and Tourism to:
1. explore how to improve the Cabinet Member for June 2025
existing new reporting Environment and (March 2025)
system to make it easier for Transport/ Cabinet
people to report parking Member for Digital,
issues to the Council. This Culture, Heritage
new system should include and Tourism
the following:
• Enables people to provide
third party evidence
• Provides feedback on action
taken
• Be user experience tested

43 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 • Launched with a
communications plan to
inform and upskill residents
so they can use it effectively
• Integrated with council
systems to minimise service
interface, and:
Cabinet Member for
2. Explore with West Midlands Environment and June 2025
Police and the other Local Transport (6 months)
Authorities within the West
Midlands Combined
Authority if they can adopt a
single reporting system.
This will make it easier for all
residents by sending the
complaint to the right
authority for them.
R11 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for January 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Environment and (1 month)
Member for Environment and Transport
Transport to urgently write a letter
to the Department for Transport to
request Councils are supported
through legislation to be able to
make more use of third party
reporting for enforcement, as police
forces are able to. This letter
should be cosigned by all
Birmingham MPs, the Police and
Crime Commissioner and the
Mayor for the West Midlands.

OFFICIAL
2.5 Other Enforcement Activity (by Council or West Midlands
Police)
2.5.1 From the Inquiry Group session with community members reinforced by the survey
results, people felt that there was insufficient enforcement to meet the level of problems
they were experiencing76.
2.5.2 West Midlands Police highlighted that there were variations in the enforcement
approaches for different issues across the seven Local Authority areas. This
presented challenges for them77.
2.5.3 West Midlands Police advised the Inquiry that the Chief Constable, Craig Guildford,
had invested heavily in road safety, and is the only force in the country to reinvest so
heavily in Roads Policing78. This included more resources including ANPR as well as
increased numbers of staff. Three new camera vans to support speed enforcement
operations have been purchased as a result of Safer Streets 5 funding, which was
successfully secured from the Home Office by the West Midlands Police and Crime
Commissioner, Simon Foster.

Speed Camera Enforcement

2.5.4 The Inquiry Group was advised that speed camera enforcement comprises a range of
options including static cameras, mobile enforcement vans and average speed
cameras. Each location (and its problem) needs to be assessed to determine the best
option. Legislation as well as guidance from the Department of Transport supports this
assessment. The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) highlighted that they
had commissioned Agilysis to undertake a study of speed enforcement79. A regional
working group including all seven Local Authorities and the Police has also been set
up to explore the business case to enable the ongoing viability of Average Speed
Enforcement (ASE) cameras across the region80.

76 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with community members, 16 April 2024 and survey, Appendix A
77 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime
Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.
78 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime

Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.

79 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime

Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.

80 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 22 August 2024

45 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 2.5.5 Council officers recognised that the current camera locations may not reflect where
problems are being faced now. Addressing this issue is a component of the regional
business case81.
2.5.6 10% of all speed enforcement cameras for the West Midlands are located in
Birmingham82. The Inquiry Group was concerned that this means there are
disproportionately fewer cameras in Birmingham compared to other areas. Average
Speed Enforcement cameras are deployed at six locations across the city. The Inquiry
Group has been advised that the level of enforcement linked to these cameras has
increased significantly in recent months83.
2.5.7 The installation and maintenance costs related to enforcement cameras physically
installed on the highway network (for example static or average speed cameras) are
mostly picked up by the Council. The costs related to processing any enforcement are
picked up by West Midlands Police. Therefore, any additional investment in capital
costs for cameras by Local Authorities (for example, purchase and installation of new
cameras) will lead to a corresponding increase in operational costs for West Midlands
Police. However, there may be opportunities for West Midlands Police to mitigate this
increase through economies of scale84.
2.5.8 The Inquiry Group learned that the current income from average speed cameras and
speed awareness courses did not cover the Police’s costs. (These costs related to the
administration of these schemes). The Police are currently undertaking work to better
understand these its costs. The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner has
also written to the Government requesting that these fines be retained locally85.

Street Racing
2.5.9 The Inquiry Group was advised that a section 222 Injunction is in place to tackle street
racing across Birmingham86. This is supported by a joint operation – Operation

81 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny
Committee, 22 August 2024
82 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime

Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.

83 This linked to information provided initially at the Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined

Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024, and which
was later updated in November 2024 by the Council to reflect the current position.
84 Relevant information provided to the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee at their pre

decision scrutiny session with Council officers on the Road Harm Reduction Strategy, 10 October 2024.
85 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime

Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.

86 Some of the worst street racing in the region takes place in Birmingham (A47 Nechells Parkway). Part of the reason

street racing takes place here based on feedback from street racers is the design of the road - wide, straight dual
carriageway with no active surveillance. This affects similar locations across the West Midlands. Prioritising

OFFICIAL
 Hercules – between the Police and the Council. For individuals who have been
identified as involved with street racing, they are offered an education course which is
delivered by West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) and 204 people had been on the
course. The course is very resource intensive87.
2.5.10 A review of the street racing enforcement joint activity with West Midlands Police is
planned.

Moving Traffic Offences

2.5.11 In England and Wales, moving traffic offences are defined in law in Schedule 7 of the
Traffic Management Act 2004 (as amended)88. They include:
• Stopping in a yellow box junction
• Banned right or left turns
• Illegal U-turns
• Going the wrong way in a one-way street
• Ignoring a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO)
2.5.12 Previously, moving traffic offences had only been enforceable by the Police in England
(excepting London). From May 2022, the Government gave Local Authorities these
powers under Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act. It also set out the level of fines
that Local Authorities can issue for moving traffic offences, and the kinds of cameras
that can be used to detect offences89. Local Authorities must apply to the Secretary of
State requesting to be given enforcement powers90.
2.5.13 Derby became the first Local Authority to implement the new Moving Traffic Offences
legislation across four pilot sites. In their first six months of operation, Derby focused
on warning and signage. (Current guidance requires this long period of soft
enforcement, which undermines the ability to recover the costs of the scheme). At the
end of this six months, compliance had improved by 80%. However, their cost basis
for the service did not factor in such high levels of compliance and subsequent level of
income. The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) felt that Birmingham had

engineering measures on this route could have a significant impact on reducing incidences of street racing in
Birmingham as a whole. Engineering measures have previously been used on locations in Central Birmingham for
street racing, which prevented this issue reoccurring.
87 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 13 June 2024

88 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/councils-in-england-to-get-new-powers-over-traffic-offences/
89 The existing level of fines which can be issued is low. The Council have requested that this is reviewed.
90 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/councils-in-england-to-get-new-powers-over-traffic-offences/

47 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
 taken a sensible approach to consider the lessons learnt from other Local Authorities
in developing its own model91.
2.5.14 Birmingham’s own Moving Traffic Enforcement (MTE) camera trial is currently in the
process of being developed92. The four trial sites are as follows:
• Newhall Street/ Great Charles Queensway – banned left and right turns
• Bristol Road (A38)/ Priory Road (B4217) – banned left and right turns
• Kingsbury Road/ Gravelly Hill (A5127) – banned right turn
• Corporation Street/ James Watt Queensway (B4114) – banned left turn.
2.5.15 It is intended to monitor the operation of the four trial sites for at least 12 months. This
will enable the Council to review the financial implications of camera based moving
traffic enforcement and to monitor any changes to guidance provided by the current
Government before considering any further installations across the city. This will limit
the Council’s exposure to financial risk.
2.5.16 Key Finding 20: Road safety issues and roads themselves cross council boundaries
within the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), but enforcement is not
consistent across them, with the exception of West Midlands Police (WMP). This may
cause additional confusion to residents.
2.5.17 Key Finding 21: The police currently run average speed camera enforcement at a
loss. This may impact upon their capacity to expand their operations.
2.5.18 Key Finding 22: Birmingham has 10% of cameras but its roads represent
approximately 50% of KSIs, and 40% of fatalities across the West Midlands.
Altogether, this indicates that Birmingham needs to increase its enforcement camera
capacity to bring it into line with neighbouring Local Authorities.

Ref Recommendation to Cabinet Responsibility Completion Date

Members
R12 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for March 2025
Council requests that an Environment and (3 months)
implementation plan setting out Transport
how it intends to reduce speed
limits across the city is provided to
the Sustainability and Transport
Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

91 Inquiry Evidence Gathering session with West Midlands Combined Authority, West Midlands Police and Crime
Commissioners Office and West Midlands Police, 6 June 2024.
92 Evidence Gathering session, Road Safety Inquiry at the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, 13 June 2024

OFFICIAL
 This plan should include how it will
engage and inform ward members.
R13 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for January 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Environment and (1 month)
Member for Environment and Transport
Transport with the Leader of the
Council, Deputy Leader, Mayor for
West Midlands, West Midlands
Police and Crime Commissioner
and all Birmingham MPs to urgently
write a letter to the Department for
Transport asking that they
introduce legislation for the police
and councils to retain funds
received from speeding fines in the
region.
R14 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for January 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Environment and (1 month)
Member for Environment and Transport
Transport to urgently write a cross
party letter to the Department for
Transport to request an increase
in the maximum charges for
Moving Traffic contraventions.
This letter should be cosigned by
all Birmingham MPs, the Police
and Crime Commissioner and the
Mayor for the West Midlands.
R15 Recommendation: Cabinet Member for January 2025
Council requests the Cabinet Environment and (1 month)
Member for Environment and Transport
Transport to urgently write a letter
to the Police and Crime
Commissioner and Chief Constable
asking them to expand the remit
and resources of traffic officers to
work closely with neighbourhood
police teams, and local councils, to
gather intelligence to target
individuals who: routinely break
speed limits; use illegal
modifications of engines and
exhausts and tinted windows; and
remove number plates to escape
detection.

49 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
Appendix A: Survey Results
As part of this Inquiry, a survey was added to the Council’s consultation website (Be Heard) to gather
the views of resident’s groups and community organisations about their experiences of road safety,
reporting these issues and enforcement in their local neighbourhoods. The survey was open
between 9 July – 6 August 2024.

The survey asked participants 18 questions. A total of 212 online responses were received. A further
written response was also submitted. An individual response with their particular experiences was
also received.

The first question asked respondents to provide details of their community/residents group to which
there were 191 responses. These were from individuals as well as those submitted on behalf of
community or residents’ groups. In some cases, more than 1 response was submitted by an
organisation by separate individuals.

Respondents may have answered more than 1 question i.e. both walking and cycling for any of the
categories. In some cases, there was no response and the recorded number of ‘no response’ is as
recorded by the consultation database. Therefore, in some cases the numbers do not add up to the
total number of completed online survey respondents of 212.

Q: How safe do you feel walking or cycling on the roads around your neighbourhood?

How safe do you feel walking or cycling on the roads around your
neighbourhood?
100
88
90 84
80
70 62
60
47
50
40 35
30 25
20 12
10 5 6
2
0
Very Unsafe Unsafe Neither Safe Very Safe
Rating

Walking Cycling

OFFICIAL
Q: How safe do you feel driving on the roads around your neighbourhood? Respondents were
asked to rate on a scale from very unsafe, unsafe, neither, safe or very safe.

How safe do you feel driving on the roads around your neighbourhood?
100 95

90

80

70
No. of responses

60 57

50

40 35

30
21
20

10 4
0
Very Unsafe Unsafe Neither Safe Very Safe
Rating

Q: Have you ever reported parking issues to Birmingham City Council using its online form?

Have you ever reported parking issues to Birmingham City Council

using its online form?

46%

54%

Yes No

51 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
Q: If yes, how satisfied were you with the level of service? (Score 1-5; 1 is the lowest, 5 is the
highest)

If, yes, how satisfied were you with the level of service?
Response to Question No Response to Question*
250

205
200
180 177
No. of responses

150
121
106 102
100

52
50

14 17
8
0
5 (very satisfied) 4 (satisfied) 3 (somewhat safisfied) 2 (unsatisfied) 1 (very unsatisfied)

Q: Have you ever reported driving or parking issues to the Police using the Nextbase reporting
system?

Have you ever reported driving or parking issues to the Police using the
Nextbase reporting system?
180
158
160 153

140

120

100

80

60 49 50

40

20 9
5
0
Yes No No Response to Question

Driving Parking

OFFICIAL
Q: Have you ever reported driving or parking issues using Fix My Street?

Have you ever reported driving or parking issues using FixMyStreet?

200
181
180
162
160
140
120
100
80
60
37
40
22
20 9 13

0
Yes No No Response to Question

Driving Parking

Q: How confident do you feel you are in knowing what the Council are responsible for, and what
the Police are responsible for? (Score 1-5; 1 is the lowest, 5 is the highest)

How confident do you feel you are in knowing what the Council are
responsible for, and what the Police are responsible for?
200
175 175 171
180
155
160

140 126
120

100
84
80 66
60 48 46
40 31 30 33 34 33
21
20

0
5 (very satisfied) 4 (satisfied) 3 (somewhat safisfied) 2 (unsatisfied) 1 (very unsatisfied)

Council Police No Response to Question*

53 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
Q: How satisfied are you with efforts by Birmingham City Council to enforce parking in your
neighbourhood?

How satisfied are you with efforts by Birmingham City Council to

enforce parking in your neighbourhood?

6 7

28

44 127

Very unsatisfied Unsatisfied Neither Satisfied Very Satisfied

Q: How satisfied are you with Police enforcement on roads in your neighbourhood? (Score 1-5; 1
is the lowest, 5 is the highest)

How satisfied are you with Police enforcement on roads in your

neighbourhood?
140 129

120

100
No. of responses

80

60
39
40 32

20
6 6
0
5 (very satisfied) 4 (satisfied) 3 (somewhat safisfied) 2 (unsatisfied) 1 (very unsatisfied)
Rating

OFFICIAL
Appendix B: Legislation
Road Traffic Act (1988)

Local authorities have a statutory duty under section 39 of the 1988 Road Traffic Act to “take steps
both to reduce and prevent accidents”. Specifically, this relates to:
• Each local authority must prepare and carry out a programme of measures designed to
promote road safety and may contribute towards the cost of measures for promoting road
safety taken by other authorities or bodies
• Each local authority:
[a] must carry out studies into accidents arising out of the use of vehicles on roads or part of
roads, other than trunk roads, within their area;
[b] must, in the light of those studies, take such measures as appear to the authority to be
appropriate to prevent such accidents, including the dissemination of information and advice
relating to the use of the roads, the giving of practical training to road users or any class or
description of road users, the construction, improvement, maintenance or repair of roads for
which they are the highway authority (in Scotland, local roads authority) and other measures
taken in the exercise of their powers for controlling, protecting or assisting the movement of
traffic on roads, and;
[c] in constructing new roads, must take such measures as appear to the authority to be
appropriate to reduce the possibilities of such accidents when the roads come into use.

Traffic Management Act (TMA 2004)

It is the duty of a local traffic authority to manage their road network with a view to achieving, so far
as may be reasonably practicable having regard to their other obligations, policies and objectives,
the following objectives
a) Securing the expeditious movement of traffic on the authority’s road network; and
b) Facilitating the expeditious movement of traffic on road networks for which another authority
of the traffic authority.
The TMA provides the Council specific tools to manage parking policies, implement measures like
speed limits, coordinate street works and enforce moving traffic offences. Some examples of how
the Council is currently utilising the TMA include civil parking enforcement, bus lane enforcement
and the operation of a permit scheme to support the coordination of street works.

Road Traffic Regulation Act (RTRA 1984)

Local Authorities are allowed to create Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) to implement various traffic
controls, including speed limits, parking restrictions, and road closures. Traffic Regulation Orders do
require adequate signage to be provided on specific streets to make the Order enforceable.

Greater London has different legislation in place to control pavement and verge parking. Some
areas have also used section 72, Highways Act 1835 as a means of prosecuting parking on
footways. (This is the only section of this Act still remaining due to repeals). The section deals with
the prohibition of allowing animals and carriages to travel on the footway. It has been accepted by

55 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
magistrates as meaning that a parked vehicle can only have got onto the footway by travelling across
it, and therefore, the driver is guilty of the offence.

New Road and Street Works Act (NRSWRA 1991)

This Act provides a legislative framework for street works by statutory undertakers (utility companies)
and works for road purposes. It is supported by relevant Regulations and Codes of Practice.

The legislation places an obligation on the highway authority to co-ordinate these works and oversee
quality of workmanship through an inspection’s regime. In 2023 BCC introduced a permit scheme
under Part 3 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 whereby instead of informing a local authority
about its intention to carry out works in its area, a statutory undertaker must book time on the
highway by obtaining a permit from the local authority. An infringement of the permit scheme can
result in the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices.

Civil Parking Enforcement

The Council’s ability to enforce parking regulations are underpinned by a framework of legislative
instruments, regulations and guidance. The statutory guidance on civil enforcement of parking
contraventions for English Local Authorities provides a useful overview of the legislation and
regulations relating to civil parking enforcement.
The Council’s Parking Service use these powers to manage the city’s considerable on and off-street
parking assets, including enforcement of parking regulations, issuing penalties for non-compliance,
and handling disputes or appeals relating to parking fines issued. These powers include:

• The Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA) confers powers on Local Authorities to manage on
and off-street parking. It includes provisions that allow Local Authorities to enforce parking by
issuing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) to vehicles parked in contravention. Part 6 of the TMA
is particularly relevant, as it covers civil enforcement of traffic contraventions which includes
parking.

• The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (RTRA 1984) provides a broad framework for traffic
management and control, including the regulation of parking. It empowers Local Authorities
to make Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) to control parking and other aspects of road use.

• The Road Traffic Act 1991 decriminalised certain parking offences and gave Local Authorities
powers to undertake parking enforcement. The Act introduced the role of Civil Enforcement
Officers (CEOs), who could issue PCNs for parking violations.

• Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines

and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022 is the regulatory framework that
ensures that devices used for enforcing road traffic contraventions, such as parking violations,
bus lane enforcement or moving traffic offences, must meet specific standards in order to be
approved (certified) for use.

OFFICIAL
 • The Civil Enforcement Officers (Wearing of Uniforms) (England) Regulations 2007 mandate
that officers who are responsible for enforcing parking and other traffic regulations must wear
a uniform when carrying out their duties.

• The Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals)

(England) Regulations 2022 provides additional details relating to the processes for
representations and appeals made against PCNs issued under the TMA.

Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014

This provides relevant tools including:

• Section 222 injunctions
• Public Space Protection Orders
• Community Protection Notices

57 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
Appendix C: Inquiry Activities
Date Session Participants

26 Launch of All ward members of Birmingham City Council

March Member Call
2024 for Evidence -
Survey
16 April Task and Finish Matt MacDonald, Better Streets for Birmingham
2024 Group Evidence
Gathering Colin Parker, Secretary, Sheldon Traffic Action Group (via Teams)
Session – Martin Price, Better Streets for Birmingham
Community
Shurunjeet Singh, Handsworth
Tahmeena Suhail, Tyseley and Hay Mills
Shivaji Shiva, Bournville
6 June Task and Finish Darren Divall, Regional Road Safety Manager, West Midlands
2024 Group Evidence Combined Authority (WMCA)
Gathering
Session – West Gareth Mason, Superintendent, West Midlands Police
Midlands
Combined Alistair Robinson, West Midlands Combined Authority
Authority/ West (WMCA)
Midlands Police
Esther Whittock, Road Safety Lead Officer of the Police and Crime
Commissioner (West Midlands)
13 June Sustainability & Geraldine Collins, Head of Operations – Digital & Customer
2024 Transport Services, Birmingham City Council
Overview and
Scrutiny Philip Edwards, Assistant Director, Transport and Connectivity,
Committee – Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City
Council Craig Evans, Parking Services Manager – Highways and
Infrastructure, Birmingham City Council

Wendy Griffiths, Director Centralised Services, Birmingham City

Council

Mel Jones, Head of Transport Planning, Transport and

Connectivity, Birmingham City Council

Pam Powis, Senior Service Manager Safer Places -Community

Safety and Resilience, Birmingham City Council

OFFICIAL
 Mark Shelswell, Assistant Director Highways and Infrastructure,
Birmingham City Council
9 July Community Call A survey hosted on the Council’s platform – Be Heard
2024 – for Evidence -
6 survey
August
2024
22 Sustainability & Councillor Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Environment and
August Transport Transport
2024 Overview and
Scrutiny Philip Edwards, Assistant Director, Transport and Connectivity,
Committee – Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City
Council Craig Evans, Parking Services Manager, Highways and
Infrastructure, Birmingham City Council

Mel Jones, Head of Transport Planning, Transport and

Connectivity, Birmingham City Council

Mark Shelswell, Assistant Director, Highways and Infrastructure,

Birmingham City Council

59 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
Appendix D: Contributors
Below is a list of all contributors to this inquiry. This is exclusive of the many community
organisations who also provided information through the survey. As noted in 1.5.2, some
organisations provided relevant information to the recent Active Travel Inquiry and where
appropriate, this information was also considered for this Inquiry too.

20s Plenty for Birmingham

20's Plenty for Us is a 'not for profit' organisation and now have over 250 local campaigns around
the country. It campaigns for 20mph to become the default speed limit on residential and urban
streets. The campaign advises that this can be done on most streets without the need for any
physical calming, but they also accept that on some streets it may be appropriate to have a higher
limit based on the road, vulnerable road users’ provision, etc. Any limit above 20mph should be a
considered decision based on local circumstances.

Active Travel England

Active Travel England is the government’s executive agency responsible for making walking,
wheeling and cycling the preferred choice for everyone to get around in England.

Birmingham City Council: Place, Prosperity and Sustainability Directorate

This directorate is responsible for services including Planning, Transport and Sustainability
(including Route to Net Zero Carbon) Property and Investment, Development, Housing
Development, Corporate Landlord and Place, Strategy and Performance.

Better Streets for Birmingham

Better Streets for Birmingham campaigns for changes to our travel and planning infrastructure to
improve the sustainability, efficiency and safety of our streets. By identifying, supporting and
advocating for changes to our environment that enable car-free journeys, they aim to make active
travel and public transport the default options for trips around our city.

OFFICIAL
Birmingham Living Streets
This is a group of local people who want our streets to be fit for walking. They work with others
towards common goals that improve walking conditions including having an input to the planning
process to improve the built environment and lobbying authorities for greater consideration of
‘active travel’.

Pushbikes
Push Bikes campaigns for better cycling in Birmingham and Solihull.

Sustrans
It works for and with communities, helping them come to life by walking, wheeling and cycling to
create healthier places and happier lives for everyone.93

Transport for West Midlands

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority. It works
with bus and train operators to make sure that public transport is:
• safe
• reliable
• affordable
• accessible for everyone
It owns and runs West Midlands Metro, which is the region’s tram service. It also runs the Swift
smartcard. This flexible, cashless ticket is the most used outside London. It does not run the buses
or trains, but it works on these services with bus and train operators.

It is part of the West Midlands Rail Executive and West Midlands Bus Alliance, and it is
responsible for monitoring and improving road safety in the West Midlands. It also looks after the
23 busiest routes in the region. This is called the Key Route Network. It manages the Regional

61 Report of the Sustainability and Transport Overview and Scrutiny

Committee, to City Council 03 December 2024
Transport Coordination Centre for the West Midlands. The centre monitors our transport
network.
London Borough of Waltham Forest Council
The London Borough of Waltham Forest is an outer London borough formed in 1965 from the
merger of the municipal boroughs of Leyton, Walthamstow and Chingford.

City of Wolverhampton Council

City of Wolverhampton Council is the local authority for the city of Wolverhampton in the West
Midlands, England. Wolverhampton has had an elected local authority since 1848, which has been
reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropolitan borough council. It
provides the majority of local government services in the city. The council has been a member of
the West Midlands Combined Authority since 2016.

West Midlands Combined Authority

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is the combined authority for the West Midlands
metropolitan county in the United Kingdom. It was established by statutory instrument under
the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. It is a strategic authority
with powers over transport, economic development and regeneration. The authority formally came
into being on 17 June 2016. The government gives combined authorities the money and power to
make decisions for their regions.

West Midlands Mayor's Cycling & Walking Commissioner

Adam Tranter was the cycling and walking commissioner between 2021 and May 2024. His role
was to work with Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), local council partners and the Department
for Transport to steer the region's cycling and walking policies and plans.

West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police is the police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West
Midlands. The force covers an area of 348 square miles (900 km2) with 2.93 million inhabitants,
including Birmingham.

OFFICIAL