The Department for Transport has not been consulted by the Home Office on the potential road safety implications of proposals to accommodate asylum seekers at MoD Bicester.

Local traffic management, including consideration of impacts on local roads such as the B4011, is a matter for the relevant local highway authority, Oxfordshire County Council. It would be for the Home Office, as the lead department for the proposals, to engage with the appropriate local authorities and other relevant bodies as necessary.

Seventeen-year-old Oakley Meer lost his life in a collision on Beachy Head Road in Eastbourne. Will the Minister meet me and Oakley’s family to discuss how we can improve road safety on that treacherous road?

Statistics on the proportion of reported road casualties in England by deprivation level are published on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-casualties-and-deprivation-factsheet-2024-england

Generally, there are a higher proportion of road casualties who live in the more deprived areas. In 2024, the difference in casualties between the most deprived 10% and least deprived 10% IMD decide was 4.9 percentage points, with 11.8% of casualties living in the most deprived 10% of areas, compared to 6.8% for the least deprived 10%.

Within the Road Safety Strategy, we committed to monitoring a Safety Performance Indicator regarding the proportion of casualties in road traffic collisions with Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) in the lowest decile. The Safety Performance Indicators will be monitored as part of delivery of the Road Safety Strategy.

The Department for Transport does not routinely collect or publish data on road safety funding allocations by parliamentary constituency or by levels of deprivation. Most road safety-related funding is allocated to local highway authorities, and funding decisions on individual road safety measures are generally made at local level.

The Department has received one application for road safety funding from Birmingham City Council in the past three years. Birmingham City Council was invited to submit an application to the Safer Roads Fund in 2023 for safety improvements on the A41 route, which had been identified as eligible for funding under the programme.

The Council proposed that funding instead be directed towards improvements on the B4514/B4217. However, these roads fell outside the scope and eligibility criteria of the Safer Roads Fund.

On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all.

The Strategy includes commitments to refresh best practice on setting local speed limits, update guidance on the use of speed and red-light cameras, and publish a new edition of the Manual for Streets.

The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65%, and 70% for children under 16, by 2035.

We recognise some local authorities may wish to go further and set more ambitious local targets. Many local authorities also have targets in place, many of which are a 50% reduction in KSIs by 2030, as well as some having vision zero targets. We welcome these approaches. We do not want to deter this ongoing work by unilaterally setting targets for local authorities.

Road safety is a shared responsibility, and this strategy reflects that. It considers action needed by government, local authorities, industry, emergency services and communities to tackle the causes of collisions and save lives.

The Department for Transport is providing all Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) with multi-year consolidated funding settlements, giving LTAs greater freedom and flexibility to make the strategic decisions that best impact their local areas. Elements of this funding settlement could be spent on traffic calming measures if they are a priority for the LTA.

The number of fatal collisions in the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North per year since 2020 are shown in the table:

Data on road collisions involving personal injury are reported to the Department by police forces in Great Britain via the STATS19 system. The latest year for which provisional data is available is 2025.

In 2025, 1,556 people were killed and 28,355 people were seriously injured in reported road collisions in Great Britain.

The Department recognises that excessive speed increases both the risk of collisions and the severity of their outcomes. Effective enforcement of speed limits can therefore play an important role in encouraging compliance and improving road safety.

The Department has not made a separate assessment of the effectiveness of speed limit enforcement in isolation. However, the Government’s Road Safety Strategy sets out the role of robust enforcement as part of a wider Safe System approach to reducing deaths and serious injuries on roads in Great Britain.

The Department for Transport publishes statistics on reported road traffic collisions annually. The number of reported fatal road traffic collisions in Birmingham and Great Britain in each of the last five years is shown in the table below.

The Department for Transport has not made a comparative assessment of trends in the number of fatal road traffic collisions in Birmingham and Great Britain over the last five years.

Information on reported road casualties and collisions is published annually as part of the Department's road safety statistics, including data at local authority level. These statistics are available on GOV.UK.

The Department for Transport has not made assessments of the effectiveness of average speed camera systems in reducing collisions in France, Germany or the Netherlands, and has not made recent assessments specifically of the impact of average speed camera installations on casualty numbers, speeding violations or fatal road traffic collisions in urban areas.

The deployment and operation of speed camera systems are matters for local police forces and traffic authorities, which are responsible for decisions on where cameras are installed.

The Department provides guidance on the use of speed and red-light cameras and has committed to updating this guidance as part of the Road Safety Strategy, with evidence gathering and assessment forming part of that work. The Department does not maintain a central record of average speed camera systems installed in England or of local authorities that may have received funding support for such installations.

The Department for Transport has not made assessments of the effectiveness of average speed camera systems in reducing collisions in France, Germany or the Netherlands, and has not made recent assessments specifically of the impact of average speed camera installations on casualty numbers, speeding violations or fatal road traffic collisions in urban areas.

The deployment and operation of speed camera systems are matters for local police forces and traffic authorities, which are responsible for decisions on where cameras are installed.

The Department provides guidance on the use of speed and red-light cameras and has committed to updating this guidance as part of the Road Safety Strategy, with evidence gathering and assessment forming part of that work. The Department does not maintain a central record of average speed camera systems installed in England or of local authorities that may have received funding support for such installations.

The Department for Transport has not made assessments of the effectiveness of average speed camera systems in reducing collisions in France, Germany or the Netherlands, and has not made recent assessments specifically of the impact of average speed camera installations on casualty numbers, speeding violations or fatal road traffic collisions in urban areas.

The deployment and operation of speed camera systems are matters for local police forces and traffic authorities, which are responsible for decisions on where cameras are installed.

The Department provides guidance on the use of speed and red-light cameras and has committed to updating this guidance as part of the Road Safety Strategy, with evidence gathering and assessment forming part of that work. The Department does not maintain a central record of average speed camera systems installed in England or of local authorities that may have received funding support for such installations.

On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. Road safety is a shared responsibility, and this strategy reflects that. It considers action needed by government, local authorities, industry, emergency services and communities to tackle the causes of collisions and save lives. By investing in infrastructure, education, and enforcement, we are taking decisive steps to make our roads safer for everyone.

Local authorities already have the power to make safety improvements on their roads, and many do so proactively. However, we recognise that communities want action before serious harm occurs. That’s why we have committed to update and strengthen national guidance to help empower local authorities to make evidence-based decisions earlier. This will include refreshed best practice on setting local speed limits, updated guidance on the use of speed and red-light cameras, and a new edition of the Manual for Streets. These tools will give local authorities greater confidence and clarity to take preventative action and design safer streets for all road users.

Responses were received from all three delivery platforms that were written to. They said they require riders to comply with legal requirements and the Highway Code, provide safety guidance and training on safe vehicle use, expect e-bikes and other vehicles used for deliveries to be roadworthy and legally compliant, and investigate reported unsafe or illegal behaviour, with sanctions up to removal from the platform.

The Department has since commissioned research to better understand the extent of illegal e-bike use amongst delivery riders, including the extent to which the business practices of food delivery platforms may influence this. The research is expected to conclude by March 2027.

The Department has committed to developing and piloting a new Work-Related Road Safety Charter for all those who drive or ride for work. The charter is in the early stages of development with the input of a wide range of stakeholders including road safety organisations and industry. Work is ongoing following initial engagement sessions, with further details to follow in due course.

On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy for Great Britain, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in Great Britain by 65%, and by 70% for children under 16, by 2035.

Local authorities are the main delivery body of road safety. Local authorities have a statutory duty to take steps both to reduce and prevent collisions. In the Department’s Local Transport Plan Guidance we have been clear that we expect Local Authorities to have regard to the Government’s road safety targets.

We provide significant funding for road infrastructure in England, both to local authorities and to National Highways. Road Safety is a crucial consideration in how that money is spent. We will provide £24 billion of capital funding between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to maintain and improve motorways and local roads across the country. This future funding builds upon the record investment of £1.6 billion in local road maintenance for 2025 to 2026, representing a £500 million increase compared to last year. How available resources are deployed, is the responsibility of the relevant local authorities taking into account the specific local problems and demands with which they are faced.

Some road safety matters are devolved to Scotland and Wales, with relevant funding allocated. Matters such as Road safety are devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. As a result of the decisions made by the Chancellor at the Spring Forecast, the Northern Ireland Executive received an additional £380 million RDEL and £10 million CDEL funding to allocate in a way that aligns with their priorities.

We engage constructively with our counterparts in Scotland, Wales and the Northern Ireland, both at ministerial and official level, on a range of issues including Road Safety.