Consultation
Consultation period
The public consultation launched on 27 November 2024 and closed on 5 March 2025. The consultation was open for 14 weeks to give sufficient time for respondents to understand the proposal and submit their feedback. This also provided time for 26 in-person engagement events to be held across Scotland, alongside two online engagement events.
Approach to consultation
This consultation was conducted to inform stakeholders, communities and the public on the rationale behind the proposed changes to speed limits in Scotland, and to gather consultee views.
The approach to consultation was set out in a Communication and Engagement Plan prepared by Transport Scotland outlining the project background, details of the proposal, impact assessment and questionnaire design as well as a Consultation Plan detailing consultation publicity and what opportunities would be provided for stakeholders and the public to get involved. This consultation involved informing stakeholders, communities and the public of the rationale behind the proposed changes to speed limits in Scotland, and to gather consultees views on the proposed changes.
Transport Scotland ensured the consultation approach included making the consultation information accessible across Scotland, ensuring that communication with community councils, advertising about the consultation and in-person events were not just on the ‘mainland’ and that Scotland’s islands were included in the consultation and engagement activities.
Some members of communities are seldom heard from during consultations because of disability, cultural difference, language, rural locations or limited time which can lead them to be excluded from consultation activity. The approach to consultation considered how best to remove any barriers that may prevent people from participating in the consultation.
Barriers to participating in public consultation and mitigation action
Not hearing about the consultation
The consultation was publicised by using a number of channels including an announcement from the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, local press releases throughout the consultation period, communication with the local community council and emails to stakeholders including MSPs.
Difficulty with written English
Transport Scotland pre-recorded a presentation of the consultation material and this was made available on the website.
The consultation materials in large print and in different languages were available on request.
Not understanding technical language
The consultation material was written in plain English, making the language as clear and jargon free as possible.
Rurally based, not close to any in-person consultation events
The 26 in-person event locations (see section 7.4) were carefully selected to ensure broad geographic representation across Scotland, balancing accessibility and engagement with logistical considerations. The online engagement events were scheduled to ensure those who could not attend the in-person events still had the opportunity to participate, and the virtual exhibition room was developed to replicate information available at in-person events.
Working during the day so not available to attend in-person events
In-person events were held from 3pm – 7pm to allow for people to access during the day and after traditional working hours.
The results of this consultation will be used by Transport Scotland alongside all other relevant evidence to inform the approach to managing national speed limits in Scotland.
Consultation objectives
The consultation objectives prepared by Transport Scotland were:
- Enable inclusive and meaningful participation: provide opportunities for stakeholders and communities to engage with proposed options, ensuring their perspectives are considered throughout the review process.
- Integrate feedback into decision-making: gather, analyse, and incorporate feedback to guide policy development.
- Maintain communication and transparency: keep participants and the wider public informed on the review's progress, outcomes and the influence of their contributions.
Consultation principles
The approach to effectively engage the public about the proposed changes were governed by core consultation principles.
The Gunning Principles are the founding legal principles applicable to public consultation in the UK. This section outlines how the engagement and consultation activities for the National Speed Management Review abides by these principles.
“Consultation must take place when the proposal is still at a formative stage”
Ensuring that consultation occurs when the proposal is still in the formative stages is crucial for meaningful public engagement and feedback. Following the consultation, the feedback was analysed and a summary of the analysis including recommendations, together with all other relevant evidence, will be used by Transport Scotland to inform final decision making.
In-person and online engagement events were scheduled over a six-week period across Scotland to facilitate an open line of communication for communities to ask questions and give feedback on the proposed changes. During this period, 28 events were scheduled in total (26 in-person, two online). The in-person event locations (see section 7.4) were carefully selected to ensure broad geographic representation across Scotland, balancing accessibility and engagement with logistical considerations. The online engagement events were scheduled to ensure those who could not attend the in-person events still had the opportunity to participate.
“Sufficient reasons must be put forward for the proposal to allow for intelligent consideration and response”
Throughout the consultation period, the provision of detailed and clear information allowed participants to engage thoughtfully and provide valuable feedback on the proposal within the 14-week consultation period.
The 2030 Road Safety Framework was available to read online and the rationale behind the proposal was provided for respondents on a variety of platforms and at all engagement events.
During this period, the use of both online and in-person consultation events allowed for stakeholders and the public to receive information on the reasoning behind the proposal, ask questions and provide feedback.
“Adequate time must be given for consideration and response”
The consultation took place over a 14-week period from 27 November 2024 to 5 March 2025 allowing for adequate time for the public and stakeholders to understand the proposal and provide feedback.
Appropriate and varied measures to consult people were employed. Information was provided through various channels to ensure participants could fully understand and respond to the proposal within the timeframe of the consultation period. The measures included:
- Materials written in plain English: The consultation materials such as the online questionnaire, event advertising and banners were informative and focused on the key features of the consultation such as the aims of the proposal, potential impacts to individuals, communities, the economy and environment (see section 5).
- Accessible information: Materials on the proposal were provided in a variety of media formats to ensure accessibility of information for a wide range of users (see section 5 and section 6).
- Adequate time to respond: Stakeholders and the public were given a 14-week period to respond to the consultation. Within this period, 26 public in-person events and two online events were held.
- Varied measures to feedback: During this period respondents were invited to share feedback on the proposal through a questionnaire available in online and in paper format. An online questionnaire was hosted on Citizen Space and paper versions of the questionnaire were available at the in-person meetings.