Transport Secretary slams brakes on Labour’s anti-car measures

• Government’s new Plan for Drivers calls time on so-called ’15-minute cities’, over-zealous blanket 20mph zones and councils rinsing drivers with unfair fines
• New national parking platform will make parking easier
• Labour taken to task over anti-motorist record in Wales, London and local councils

The Transport Secretary has set out the Government’s Plan for Drivers, slamming the brakes on Labour politicians’ anti-car policies across England.

Addressing the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Mark Harper announced a series of measures to prevent local authorities from pursuing anti-car policies, reduce the number of traffic jams and improve drivers’ experience on the road.

Measures announced today include a path towards fairer insurance claims by consulting on removing the right of uninsured drivers to claim compensation for property damage.

The Plan for Drivers will tackle anti-motorist policies such as so-called 15-minute cities and will crack down on councils generating surpluses from excessive fines on motorists. 

To ease the flow of traffic, action will be taken to rule out the blanket 20mph zones seen in Wales, tune up traffic lights to unblock junctions and restrict 24-hour bus lanes where they aren’t appropriate.

Motorists’ experience will be improved by a new national parking platform to simplify parking via apps, an expansion in Lane Rental Schemes enabling councils to put more resources into tackling potholes and clamping down on overrunning roadworks.

Labour’s anti-motorist policies under Sadiq Khan in London, Mark Drakeford in Wales and supported by Sir Keir Starmer are scrutinised as the Conservatives ramp up their offering to motorists ahead of the next General Election.

Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper said: 

“Where Labour politicians have power – from the London Mayoralty to Wales and local councils in between – they pursue ideological, anti-driver crusades to create a car-free society.

“This Conservative Government’s Plan for Drivers demonstrates that we’re on the side of the driver – giving people the freedom to travel how they want and when they want.”

Conservative Candidate for Mayor of London, Susan Hall said:

“Sadiq Khan’s misrule of London has demonstrated what Labour does when it has positions of power – from taxing the poorest motorists off the road to planning a pay per mile scheme.

“Today’s announcement makes it clear that it is the Conservatives who are on the side of drivers.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors: 

The Conservatives in Government have a track record of supporting motorists by:

• Not increasing fuel duty since 2011. We have also retained the temporary 5p cut in fuel duty saving the average motorist hundreds of pounds. From 1997 to 2010, Labour increased fuel duty by over 48 per cent.
• Significantly investing in our roads: We have committed £41.6bn for investment in England’s strategic roads in 2015-2025, with more than £5bn from 2020-21 to 2024-25 to maintain local roads – and an extra £200m announced at the Budget in March 2023.
• Improving the safety of our roads: Since April 2017 we have invested £100m in improving the top 50 most high-risk roads in England. In April 2023 we added a further £47.5m to the fund. This investment is set to prevent around 2,210 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years.

The Conservatives’ long-term Plan for Drivers will back motorists by:

• Ruling out blanket 20mph zones seen in Wales: Government guidance will be changed, requiring councils to only use 20mph zones where there's a good reason.
• Making parking easier: A National Parking Platform will end the need to use multiple parking apps. We will also consult on revising guidance about the public’s right to challenge local authority parking policies.
• Helping local authorities tackle potholes: We will support councils to introduce more Lane Rental Schemes, which reduce roadworks by incentivising utilities to avoid the busiest roads at the busiest times. We will also consult on requiring local authorities with Lane Rental schemes to use at least 50% of any surplus on pothole repairs or resurfacing.
• Cracking down on over-running roadworks: We will consult on extending fines for overrunning street works to those during weekends and increasing fines for works that overrun. 
• Making insurance claims fairer. We will consult on removing the right of uninsured drivers to claim compensation for property damage.
• Cutting down on traffic jams: £30 million will upgrade traffic signal systems, replacing unreliable and obsolete equipment to improve reliability. A £20 million ‘Green Light Fund’ will tune up traffic signals to better reflect current traffic conditions and get traffic flowing. Guidance will be strengthened to make sure bus lanes help rather than hinder traffic by operating only when buses are running, or when traffic is heavy enough to cause delay to buses.
• Clamping down on councils’ rip off fines: We will consider options to restrict local authorities’ ability to generate surpluses from traffic offences and over-zealous use of traffic enforcement powers.
• Calling time on so called ‘15-minute cities’: We will stop local authorities using so-called ‘15-minute cities’ to police people’s lives, consulting on measures including the removal of local authorities’ access to DVLA data to enforce such schemes by camera.
• Speeding up the rollout of EV chargers: We will consult on measures to speed up the approvals process for installation of chargepoints and the expansion of permitted development rights, making private chargepoint installation cheaper and easier.
• Helping deliver quieter neighbourhoods: Allow local councils to roll out noise cameras to target unacceptable vehicle modifications.

Where Labour politicians are in power, they pursue anti-motorist policies:

• In London: Labour’s Sadiq Khan is expanding his ULEZ charge, taxing the poorest drivers, ignoring local opposition and his own impact assessment which concluded the expansion would have a ‘minor to negligible’ effect on air pollution in Greater London. Conservatives exposed Sadiq Khan’s plans to go even further by charging every motorist for each mile driven.
• In Wales: The Welsh Labour Government plays a key role in Labour’s war on motorists. From plans to charge motorists for use of the M4 to Labour-run Cardiff Council’s plans for a congestion charge. Labour First Minister Mark Drakeford hasn’t stopped there, they have also introduced blanket 20 mph zones across Wales and a ban on new road building.
• In local councils: In Labour, Lib Dem and Green-run Oxfordshire County Council, we have seen councillors bulldoze through the opinion of locals and introduce disproportionate measures to drive people off roads. This is in spite of 2,400 local people who responded to the local consultation, of which 63 per cent said they objected to LTNs. Labour-led Cambridge City Council was forced to abandon plans for a ULEZ-style charging zone, following opposition led by local Conservatives. Labour-run Oxford City Council alongside the County Council are planning a ‘15-minute city’ that will divide the city into discreet zones that cannot be crossed by car, enforced through extensive CCTV surveillance.