Letter to local authority chief executives outlining requirements for the publication of speed camera information
Published 26 June 2011
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Sender
Chief Executives
English Local Highway Authorities (outside London)
Letter
Dear Colleague,
Further to the Government’s commitment to increase transparency and the Coalition agreement, the Government is requiring local authorities to publish information about the impact and use of speed cameras.
A working group, including police, local authority and Government representatives, has reported to advise me what information should be published and how. I have considered the conclusions of the group’s report, which is attached along with my decisions about what to do.
A central recommendation of the group is that site by site casualty, crash and speed information for permenant fixed camera sites – but not mobile enforcement camera sites - can and should be published by local authorities (or by other organisations, such as partnerships on their behalf). The information should usually include annual crash or casualty data back to 1990 for the numbers of killed and seriously injured and for all personal injuries. Please, therefore, arrange for this to be published.
The group has also recommended that the Department for Transport should set up a central hub providing links to the local websites where this information would be housed. Please notify road.safety@dft.gsi.gov.uk where the information for your authority’s area will be published by 20th July.
The group has also recommended that those local authorities which support camera enforcement financially should ensure that a deployment strategy is published locally.
I am also writing to the Association of Chief Police Officers about the publication of offence information both at a local authority area-wide level and site by site for fixed camera sites. The police are responsible for providing this information. However, I do emphasise the desirability of local authorities and the police working together so that all the information, being published about cameras in a local area, is accessible in one place and can be easily viewed as a whole by the public.
The Government is committed to reducing the administrative burden on local authorities. It has already increased the flexibility of its funding support for local transport including road safety. This requirement about speed camera information is an important priority, is based on using readily available information and is needed to improve transparency and accountability to the public.
MIKE PENNING