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I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require local authorities in England to prepare and publish a road safety plan in respect of each school in their area; and for connected purposes.
It is good to be back. The reasons behind my bringing the Road Safety Plans Bill to the House are the events of December 2025 in Madeley Heath in the northern part of my constituency. A local dad was walking his daughter to Meadows primary school not far from their home and, on this fateful day, was struck down by a reckless and speeding driver. That is what this Bill is about. We are here to demand action and to ensure that those responsible—in our case, Staffordshire county council—get on with actually doing something rather than more warm, weasel words, on occasion, about understanding the problems.
Newcastle-under-Lyme is home to many brilliant schools, from Meadows primary school to St Wulstan’s in Wolstanton to Hassell primary school—which I was outside yesterday with Labour’s candidate in the town by-election scheduled for 8 October, Andrew Fox-Hewitt, who went to that school back in the day—up to Churchfields in Chesterton, St Mary’s on Silverdale Road and, of course, May Bank infants school. They are all excellent schools, all returning this week, and all would be safer if the provisions of my Bill became law.
This is important, because no child, no parent, no carer—nobody—in Newcastle-under-Lyme or anywhere else in England should be at risk of injury, serious injury or, indeed, death when on the journey to school in the morning or from school in the afternoon. While we would all agree that no one should be at risk of losing a loved one, forced to push a child out of harm’s way or, indeed, at risk themselves on that journey, we have seen far too many close calls in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Since my election to this place, I have heard countless reports from local people back home of serious incidents on our roads, whether that is the continued speeding on Hanbridge Avenue that has seen near misses for humans and family pets killed by reckless drivers, or concerns from a number of local people about speeding along Basford Park Road and Silverdale Road—not to mention the disgraceful boy racers who wreak havoc up and down the A34 and in the car parks of neighbouring hotels, or the junction at Bowsey Wood Road, where there was a recent fatality, and, of course, the incident at Meadows primary school back in December 2025.
Dangerous driving, boy racers and the associated impact are the very worst forms of antisocial behaviour. My constituents have had enough of this antisocial behaviour, and they want it sorted. Just a few days ago, I was copied into an email from a constituent of mine that was sent to Staffordshire county council. I want to share a few sentences from that email with the House:
“The community has established a Community Speed Watch Group, with volunteers dedicating their own time to conduct numerous monitoring sessions. More than 10,000 vehicles have been observed.
Police presence was recommended by the council as the primary and short-term solution; however, it has not proved to be a readily available option. Nevertheless, as previously stated, police presence cannot be considered a suitable substitute for a permanent solution, such as the provision of a pedestrian crossing.
In light of the above, we would be grateful for a clear update (from Staffordshire County Council) on the current position and, in particular, whether any specific road safety measures have now been identified for the A525/A531 junction.
The local community remains committed to working constructively with Staffordshire County Council and relevant partners to find a lasting solution.”
I could not have put that better myself, and I am grateful to my constituent Zsuzsanna for her tenacity and to Carol, Rebecca, Louise and another of my constituents, Jill Whitmore, who has been a lollypop lady outside Meadows primary school for many years and sits on the borough council.
These brilliant campaigners had me out on a cold wet morning earlier this year. It was raining cats and dogs, although I think I used other words at the time, and it was clear from being with them that morning that the junction at Meadows primary school is not safe, nor is it fit for purpose. They have together, in all weathers, campaigned hard and demanded action from the county council and the police to do more to stop speeding drivers and to keep our community safe. That is why this Bill is so important and so timely, not just in my community back in Newcastle-under-Lyme but right across England.
I have repeatedly called out Staffordshire county council for falling short and failing on its duty to get a grip of the situation and finally install the necessary traffic-calming measures. While we wait for the county council and its leadership to wake up, there continue to be what feel like near misses every day. This Bill would mean that the council has no excuse. I know that members of the county council like to watch my speeches, so I hope that they watch this one and then get up from behind their desks and get on with doing whatever is needed to make our roads safe.
That starts with ensuring that journeys to and from school are made safe, but it does not stop at that. At one of my coffee mornings in the summer, I met a constituent of mine, a 97-year-old man who is in very good shape, who came along to the church hall at St Werburgh’s in Clayton. He noted the speeding along Dartmouth Avenue outside the library, and outside the medical centre on Kingsbridge Avenue. My constituent told me that he has almost been knocked down several times and has seen families with small children in similar situations.
While my Bill starts with schools and making the school journey a better experience for all those concerned, let it be a catalyst for safer roads in Newcastle-under-Lyme and right across the country. There were 160 casualties in Newcastle-under-Lyme alone last year, including two fatalities. The case for my Bill is made by those statistics and the many, many families impacted by dangerous driving, speeding and criminality—this is a crime, and we need to tackle it.
I am proud that this Labour Government have made vital progress on road safety since the election in July 2024, and I welcome the publication of the first road safety strategy in over a decade earlier this year. I am particularly grateful to the excellent former Minister for Road Safety, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood), for her engagement with me on issues of road safety in Newcastle-under-Lyme and for speaking to me about my Bill before the summer recess. Staffordshire county council could learn a thing or two from the Minister, because I am sick and tired of receiving responses that tell me that the councillor for the division will look at my request for action. To date, no county councillor has properly stepped up to be counted.