Local councils in England do not receive a direct share of the revenue paid in speeding fines. Instead all revenue (around £100 million a year goes to HM Treasury).
However local authorities are expected to fund traffic calming measures – such as speed cameras, signage and infrastructure projects such as crossing and speed tables.
This council motion from Solihull Liberal Democrats calls for a fair funding model whereby local authorities can directly retain 50% of their speed fine revenues (which would be ring-fenced to road safety improvements).
This motion is best moved in a council with direct responsibility for highways issues – such as a unitary authority, MBC, LBC or County Council. However with adaptations a version could be moved on a District Council.
The template motion is below:
Council notes:
- That speeding fines across England generate around £100 million per year, all of which is paid directly to HM Treasury, with no share returned to local authorities.
- That councils are responsible for maintaining highways, improving road safety, delivering traffic calming schemes, and responding to persistent community concerns about speeding and dangerous driving.
- That local authorities frequently fund enforcement infrastructure – such as average speed cameras, ANPR enforcement points, signage, and engineering works – yet receive no income from the fines issued as a result of these measures.
- That communities across the borough consistently call for greater investment in traffic calming, crossings, school street safety, and active travel protection.
Council believes:
- That a fairer national funding model is required to ensure that money raised from speeding offences is reinvested into the communities where those offences occur.
- That enabling councils to retain a proportion of speeding fine revenue would create a stable, locally controlled funding stream for road safety improvements.
- That ring fencing such funding would directly support the Council’s objectives to reduce casualties, protect vulnerable road users, and improve public confidence in local road safety.
Council resolves to:
- Write to HM Government, the Secretary of State for Transport, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer requesting that:
- Local authorities receive 50% of the annual revenue generated from speeding fines issued within their area; and
- This funding be ring fenced exclusively for road safety improvements, including average speed cameras, engineering measures, enforcement support, school safety schemes, and active travel protection.
- Request that the Local Government Association (LGA) and the [INSERT NAME OF LOCAL COMBINED AUTHORITY] support this call for reform and lobby Government for a fairer distribution of speeding fine revenue.
- Investigate the feasibility of procuring mobile pairs of average speed cameras that could be deployed across different streets in [AREA NAME] to encourage behaviour change, improve compliance with speed limits, and increase awareness of the consequences of dangerous driving.