Edinburgh council seeks powers to issue fines over 20mph limits, School Streets and 'No left/right turn'

Road safety is top priority, says transport convener Scott Arthur

Edinburgh council chiefs want new powers to hand out fines to motorists who break 20mph limits, flout restrictions outside schools and ignore "No left/right turn" signs.

They say the police do not have the time or resources to devote to enforcing such regulations and argue allowing the council to take on the work would improve road safety. The call comes after Edinburgh became the first council in Scotland to use new powers granted to local authorities to ban pavement parking and hand out £100 fines to those who fail to observe the prohibition. 

Councils currently have no power in relation to moving traffic violations except for operating bus lane cameras to catch motorists who drive in bus lanes. Transport convener Scott Arthur said: "We appreciate the police are under huge pressure and have their own priorities, so we would welcome powers over the use of cameras to enforce 20mph speed limits, School Streets and prohibitions on turns as part of a wider package of measures to make our streets safer."

Scott Arthur says giving the council more powers to issue fines would help improve road safety.

He said the Scottish Government had transferred the powers over pavement parking to councils and it was working well, so councils would be well placed to take on other powers. He raised the issue at a Transport Scotland road safety summit held at Edinburgh's City Chambers on Wednesday.  He also urged that members of the public should be able to submit dashcam footage of people breaking the law and police should be able to act on it.  "That happens in every part of the UK apart from Scotland," he said.

Figures released in October showed that the number of people killed on Scotland's roads had reached its highest level for seven years, with a total of 173 people fatally injured in road collisions in 2022.  In Edinburgh there was a 2 per cent fall in the number of people killed and seriously injured on the city’s roads between 2019/21 and 2020/22 and a 13 per cent decrease in the number of pedestrians seriously injured over the same period.  However, there was an 11 per cent increase in young people under 18 seriously injured. 

Cllr Arthur said road safety was a top priority for the council and that lay behind his call for more enforcement powers.  He said: "Road safety is at the heart of it. At every school I go to, parents are concerned about road safety around the school.  Most problems are at drop-off time and pick-up time - and it is caused by a tiny minority. 

"The police have to attend to enforce school streets just now.  We could put cameras in the streets and that would be a deterrent.   It makes sense for the powers to be held at the right level to make a difference, to try to improve safety particularly around schools."

He said council powers to enforce 20mph limits at locations where there were road safety issues also made sense.  And he gave the examples of Woodhall Road and Bridge Road in Colinton, where he said data showed speeds of almost 30mph in a 20mph zone.

And at the junction of Leith Walk and London Road, although the council installed a camera to monitor compliance with the controversial 'No left turn' restriction and provided the footage to the police, it was entirely up to the police to decide whether to hand out fines. 

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop had previously written to Cllr Arthur on the matter of moving traffic violations and advised that a change to primary legislation would be required. 

The spokesperson continued:  “Scottish Ministers do not currently have the powers to devolve such matters to local authorities. Careful consideration and public consultation would be required before appropriate legislation could be developed for consideration by the Scottish Parliament.”

Ms Hyslop said the 2022 rise in road deaths was "alarming". She said: “I want to be clear that road safety remains an absolute priority for the Scottish Government.  That is why we have earmarked a record £36m for road safety in the next Scottish Budget.“I am resolute in my determination to save lives and meet the long term vision where no-one is killed or seriously injured on Scotland’s roads by 2050.”