Speeding drivers to fund a Dudley Council plan crackdown on motorists breaking limits - here's how

Dudley Council’s director of environment, Nick McGurk, approved supporting a joint working agreement with West Midlands Police which allows councils to invest in speed enforcement equipment.

The new agreement is an expansion of an initiative which has been in place for five years where four Black Country councils including Dudley entered into a pilot Average Speed Enforcement (ASE) scheme.

The existing scheme saw the introduction of speed check areas on two borough roads, the A458 between Drews Holloway and The Hayes and the A4123 Birmingham Road to Priory Road.

Both enforcement zones have delivered results, the A458 saw an overall speed reduction by six mph and collisions fell from 26 injury collisions in 2015/17 to nine recorded collisions in 2020/22.

On the A4123 speed fell by four mph and the 2015/17 injury collision figure of 32 dropped to three recorded collisions in 2020/22.

The scheme was funded by payments from drivers caught speeding who opted to attend speed awareness courses, cash from fixed penalty notices goes to the treasury.

The project set a total target of 20,000 activations of enforcement cameras triggered by speeding per year, or 5,000 per council.

Overall, 42 percent of notices resulted in a fixed penalty being issued, 36 percent were dealt with by a speed awareness course costing drivers £96 and 22 percent were not paid or lost because of an appeal.

After a review in 2023 police proposed a single scheme to cover the whole West Midlands covering the seven councils in the combined authority area.

Police will carry out day-to-day operation of the cameras and issue speeding tickets but councils would be responsible for maintaining enforcement equipment.

How much money will Dudley Council to target speeding drivers under this scheme?

West Midlands Police guaranteed £300,000 to cover costs for a new two-year interim agreement while details of a longer-term scheme are finalised.

The money will be split between the seven authorities, based on the percentage of people killed or seriously injured on its roads.

Dudley is in line for 10 percent (£31,288) which would cover its current maintenance bill of around £12,000 per year.

The decision document signed by Mr McGurk and Cllr Damian Corfield, Dudley cabinet member for highways, said: “ This guaranteed contribution will allow the potential to expand ASE to new routes, on the understanding that maintenance costs increase annually any new routes will increase Dudley’s annual maintenance costs yet further.”

The document also gives a warning that if the scheme is a success and people cut their speed fewer enforcement notices will be issued and income will fall.

The document said: “It is important to recognise that speed enforcement is not intended to generate income.

“Enforcement is a tool to improve road safety, alongside engineering and education.”