Speed fines cash should fund road safety - council

Rotherham councillors have backed calls for half the money raised through local speeding fines to be spent on making roads safer.

The Liberal Democrat motion, proposed by Councillor Drew Tarmey, called for local authorities to receive 50% of speeding fine revenue from their areas, with the funds ring-fenced for road safety improvements.

Tarmey noted fines revenue gets paid to the Treasury, saying the plan would give communities "more of a say" over how the money is spent.

The motion was carried, and the borough council will now write to the government, transport secretary and chancellor requesting the share of revenue.

Tarmey said: "We want to recognise that individual communities are sometimes better able to assess that risk than some of the existing mechanisms that we have."

A Conservative attempt to replace the proposal with a call for guaranteed, needs-based road safety funding was defeated, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The amendment, proposed by Councillor Tim Baum-Dixon and seconded by Councillor Zach Collingham, argued that neither local nor central government should become financially dependent on drivers breaking the law.

Coun Baum-Dixon said: "If road safety funding depends upon fines, successful enforcement means less money to make our roads safer."

But with the motion carried, the council will ask regional and local government bodies to support the campaign.

It will also investigate buying movable pairs of average speed cameras for use across Rotherham.

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