The A702 Trunk Road (Carlops) (20mph Speed Limit) Order 2024

The Scottish Ministers hereby give notice that they have made the above Order under sections 82(2)(a) and (b), 83(1), 84(1)(a) and 124(1)(d) of and paragraph 27 schedule 9 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

The effect of the Order is as described in The Peeblesshire News, dated 5th April 2024 and the Edinburgh Gazette Issue Number 28945, dated 5th April 2024. The Order comes into force on Friday 4th October 2024.

A copy of the Order as made and the relevant plan may be inspected free of charge until 15th November 2024 at the offices of Transport Scotland, George House, 2nd Floor, 36 North Hanover Street, Glasgow, G1 2AD and Co-Op Food-West Linton, 21-23 Main Street, West Linton, EH46 7EE.

A member of staff of the Scottish Ministers

Transport Scotland
George House
36 North Hanover Street
Glasgow
G1 2AD

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 Compatibility Consideration and Narration of Statement of Compatibility

The Scottish Ministers have made the following statement regarding children’s rights.

“In accordance with section 23(2) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (the Act), the Scottish Ministers certify that, in their view, the A702 Trunk Road (Carlops) (20mph Speed Limit) Order 2024 is compatible with the UNCRC requirements as defined by section 1(2) of the Act.”

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) for the A702 Trunk Road (Carlops) (20mph Speed Limit) Order 2024

Disclaimer

This document is a point in time assessment of the likely effects of the A702 Trunk Road (Carlops) (20mph Speed Limit) Order 2024 on the rights and wellbeing of children and young people.

Scottish Government acknowledge the importance of monitoring and evaluating the impact of strategic decisions and legislation on children’s rights and wellbeing. Any information gathered during implementation of the legislation or strategic decision to which the impact assessment relates, will be used to inform future determinations of impact. Any new strategic decision or new legislation (including amending legislation) would be subject to a new CRWIA in line with the legislative requirements.

Introduction

  1. Brief Summary (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 16 and 17).

Type of proposal

(Please choose from either Bill, SSI or Decision of a strategic nature relating to the rights and wellbeing of children)

Applicable answer: SSI

Name the proposal, and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.

The A702 Trunk Road (Carlops) (20mph Speed Limit) Order 2024 will come into force on 4 October and will make the current temporary 20mph speed limit permanent. The speed limit was 30mph before the temporary 20mph limit was introduced. The permanent 20mph speed limit will apply to the same length of road as the current temporary 20mph speed limit through the centre of Carlops a distance of 762 metres.

This section of road in Carlops was originally made a temporary 20mph speed limit as part of the wider Scottish Borders programme for 20mph limits which was brought in under Spaces for People. Spaces for People was a fund created during the Covid 19 pandemic to give people more space to walk, wheel and cycle. Scottish Borders Council introduced 20mph limits across the region on the local roads which they are responsible for, and Transport Scotland applied 20mph temporary speed limits on sections of the Trunk Road Network.

Following monitoring of the temporary speed limit the 20mph limit in Carlops, this 20mph speed limit is now being made permanent.

While this 20mph speed limit was introduced initially under a different scheme, the overall aim of this SSI is to reduce speeds on the section of the trunk road in the interests of road safety and align with the National Strategy for 20mph limits. Along this section of road there is a significant number of houses opening onto the main road as well as a Church and a village hall.

The aims of the National Strategy are to expand 20mph speed limits across Scotland and will ensure all appropriate roads in built-up areas have a safer speed limit of 20mph by 2025. The strategy seeks to introduce a consistency for 20mph speed limits across the country, simplifying speed limits for drivers. It seeks to reduce perceptions of road danger, encourage people to walk, wheel and cycle, and create more pleasant streets and neighbourhoods by providing a more equitable balance between different road users and will contribute to the implementation of the safe system.

Start date of proposal’s development: December 2021

Start date of CRWIA process: 20/06/2024

  1. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which aspects of the proposal are relevant to children’s rights? (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 17-19).

The 20mph speed limit that will be made permanent by this order has the potential to have a positive impact with regards to the following articles from the UNCRC act.

  • Article 6 Life, survival and development
  • Article 23 Children with a disability
  • Article 24 Health and health services
  • Article 28 Right to education
  • Article 31 Leisure, play and culture.

Article 6 – due to improved road safety

Articles 23, 24, 28, 31 – Improved safety to access facilities used by children and young people.

See Question 8- Please note Question 8 also includes article 2 following further assessment from the evidence.

  1. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal. (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 19-22).

From:

  • existing research/reports/policy expertise
  • consultation/feedback from stakeholders
  • consultation/feedback directly from children and young people

Evidence from the trial in the Scottish Borders has helped to inform the decision to make the 20mph limit in Carlops permanent.

  • Olowosegun, A.; Fountas, G.; Davis, A. Assessing the Impact of 20mph Speed Limits on Vehicle Speeds in Rural Areas: The Case of the Scottish Borders. Safety2023, 9, 66. https://doi.org/10.3390/safety9030066
  • Qualitative data from Scottish Borders Council trial
  • The Scottish Borders Council (SBC) conducted public attitudinal surveys across the Local Authority Area about the 20mph speed limit trial. The SBC public attitudinal surveys were conducted as an online consultation on a self-selecting basis. It should be noted that there were strong feelings about the introduction of 20mph limits in the Scottish Borders. Feedback from their consultation can be found here and specific settlements can be selected including those settlements which are on the trunk road. There was a mixture of positive and negative responses, however those negative responses did not focus on children’s rights impacts and were more surrounding concerns that drivers were not adhering to the slower speed limit, that it was causing frustration with some drivers tailgating or overtaking at dangerous points. Some respondents felt it was causing congestion and argued that that it made it less safe for children due to the behaviour of drivers as a result of being asked to drive more slowly. Below are some positive responses regarding children.
  • “I welcome 20mph speed limit and gives me slightly more peace of mind when my children are walking but do feel it needs reinforced.”
  • “I think the roads are safer for children and elderly when they are walking. I am in favour of keeping these restrictions”.
  • “It feels safer for me and my children. We can cross the road to the school bus each morning without the same worry and fear caused by speeding vehicles. The noise pollution is also less with slower moving vehicles”.
  • “As a parent of two primary school aged children I found the speed of most drivers through our village terrifying and I still do not feel comfortable letting my young children cross our road as it is too busy. However, I feel that the reduced speed limit has helped reduce the speed of most drivers, if not to 20 then at least to 30 or below. This has made a significant difference to how I feel while walking with my children in the village and we are definitely walking more frequently and feel safer doing so”.

Speed Survey Data – Speed survey data was collected at various points throughout the Scottish Borders trial and helped inform what stretches of trunk road should have a 20mph speed limit permanently applied.

On going discussion with Local Authority and Police Scotland – informal consultation with the Local Authority and Police Scotland contributed to the final decision to apply a 20mph speed limit permanently to this stretch of road. Police Scotland and the Local Authorities were also consulted as part of the statutory consultation in the promotion of the SSI as a permanent order, which was conducted in February 2024. The statutory public consultation was carried out in April/May 2024 for which no comments were received.

Wider reports that have been used to inform the decision to make the 20mph limit permanent.

  • Transport Scotland National Strategy for 20mph, Road assessment Guidance.
  1. Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact? If yes, please provide an explanation of how they will be addressed (Guidance Section 3.2, page 22).

This section of road in Carlops was chosen for a reduction in speed to 20mph from 30mph as it contains a significant number of houses opening onto the main road as well as a Church and a village hall. Therefore, it was more likely for there to be a danger to children in moving around the local area.

The main evidence to making the 20mph limit permanent has been gathered through speed surveys and observing the changes in driver behaviour through a reduction in average speeds. This has demonstrated positive impacts to the rights identified which has informed the decision to make the speed limit permanent.

Longer term changing attitudes of people in communities with 20mph speed limits and the further positive impacts of this cannot be fully realised until the implementation has had a longer period for trends to emerge. However, this goes beyond this one speed limit change so is out with the scope of this SSI alone.

Safety statistics will be monitored over a number of years and over the wider implementation of 20mph limits.

  1. Analysis of Evidence (Guidance Section 3.2, page 23).

The study carried out by Edinburgh Napier University analysed the changes in speeds across the Scottish Borders. 20mph limits were introduced across the Scottish Borders as part of Spaces for People during the Covid 19 pandemic. The study showed that mean speeds across the Scottish Borders were reduced by about 3 mph with greater reductions observed on roads that had higher speed patterns before the limit was introduced. This shows that the introduction of the lower speed limit should reduce the speeds by 3mph or more. The trunk road reductions from their speed surveys are detailed in the table below. It is anticipated that similar reductions will be seen elsewhere on the Trunk Road Network, contributing to article 6.

Location

Average 7 day 24 hour

Before (Sept/Oct 2020)

After (Jun/Aug 2021)

Difference

Percentage change

Carlops

mean

26.4

23.0

-3.4

-13%

Hawick

mean

26.9

23.6

-3.3

-12%

Jedburgh

mean

30.8

25.7

-5.1

-17%

Lauder

mean

30.1

25.2

-4.9

-16%

Selkirk 1

mean

28.3

23.3

-5.0

-18%

Selkirk 2

mean

27.1

24.1

-3.0

-11%

West Linton

mean

30.3

25.3

-5.0

-17%

The surveys conducted by the Scottish Borders Council gave an indication of some of the positive impacts that may be experienced by parents and the positive impact that they could have on children.

Additionally the survey conducted by Scottish Borders Council found there was a mixture of positive and negative responses, however those negative responses did not focus on children’s rights impacts and were more surrounding concerns that drivers were not adhering to the slower speed limit, that it was causing frustration with some drivers tailgating or overtaking at dangerous points, some respondents felt it was causing congestion and argued that that it made it less safe for children due to the behaviour of drivers as a result of being asked to drive more slowly. Please see Question 9 for further information.

The TRL report (Cookson et al) showed that if you hit someone at 30mph, they’re seven times more likely to die than if you hit them at 20 mph. This shows the lower speed limit would help protect children reducing the risk of death or serious injury should they be struck by a moving vehicle, contributing to article 6.

Transport Scotland’s Key reported road casualties from 2023 reported that 28% of all pedestrian casualties of all ages were children (263 out of 939) demonstrating how children are disproportionately affected as pedestrian casualties on Scotland’s Roads

Therefore, this SSI in lowering the speed on the trunk road through Carlops aims to protect children as they are vulnerable as pedestrians, contributing to article 6.

The paper from the Glasgow Centre for Population Health Scotland showed that child pedestrians from more deprived areas in Scotland are three times more likely to be injured on the roads than those from less deprived areas. While this isn’t area-specific i.e. was not carried out in the Scottish Borders, we believe this is an important aspect to consider as varying levels of deprivation can be present in any local authorities. Therefore, it is possible to apply findings to other areas and consider as part of the overall analysis of evidence.

The Unicef (2022) report pointed to longer term impacts that this SSI along with others introduced as part of the wider strategy could have on children, while this is more globally-focussed, it can help us to understand road safety with a specific focus on children and we believe it provides useful insight and findings alongside our other evidence.

“As well as the benefits of Road safety solutions with cross-cutting benefits for people, the planet and profits exist. Transforming environments to enable children’s safe mobility promotes their physical activity, active travel, independence, wellbeing and development. Wider social, economic and environmental benefits of these transformations include reduced health system costs from fewer road traffic injuries and disabilities, less traffic congestion, through lower air and noise pollution with the use of new technologies, increased walking and bicycling to improve health and reduce non-communicable diseases and improved overall safer and child-friendly communities that contribute to economic growth.”

This links to the longer-term goals of this speed restriction and we plan to monitor through the implementation of this permanent restriction to see if these long-term positive impacts materialise.

  1. What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment? (Guidance Section 3.2, page 23)

Having gone through this assessment and considering the rights of the child no changes have been made as they would not result in further progression of any of the positive impacts of the intervention.

Conclusion

  1. As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all UNCRC requirements, what is the potential overall impact of this proposal on children’s rights? (Guidance Section 3.2, page 23):

(Please choose from positive, negative, neutral or no impact, please note you can have both a positive and negative impact on children’s rights.)

Children’s Rights

Applicable answer(s): Positive

  1. If you have identified a positive impact on children’s rights, please describe below how the proposal will protect, respect, and fulfil children’s rights in Scotland. (Guidance Section 3.2, page 24).
  • Article 2 Non-discrimination
  • the place criteria from the National Strategy for implementing a 20mph is applied universally across Scotland irrespective of the socioeconomics of the locality. Glasgow centre for Population Health report showed how children from deprived areas are disproportionately affected by pedestrian casualties. Therefore, by implementing the restriction on appropriate roads as defined by the place criteria, this aims to reduce those disproportionately impacted as pedestrian casualties and in turn contributes to non-discrimination.
  • Article 6 Life, survival and development,
    • This SSI has the potential to make it safer for children crossing the road as shown by the TRL report and the Key reported road casualties in Scotland listed in question 2 as this road is more likely to be used by pedestrians; the road having been considered appropriate due to the place criteria which considered factors such as proximity to schools, community facilities, the density of house frontages etc.
  • Article 23 Children with a disability
  • Article 24 Health and health services
  • Article 28 Right to education
  • Article 31 Leisure, play and culture.
  • because trunk roads have the potential to limit or reduce access to facilities due to safety concerns this SSI could potentially have an impact in increasing access to these facilities by making access safer for those travelling on foot or by bike, and allow greater freedom due to improved road safety which we foresee to be a potential positive long term impact. This positive impact is highlighted in the Unicef report.
  1. If a negative impact has been identified please describe below. Is there a risk this could potentially amount to an incompatibility? (Guidance Section 3.2, page 25).

It is not anticipated that this proposal will have a negative impact on Childrens’ rights as the speed limit does not close any roads and limit or reduce access, while there may be slightly increased travel time (approximately 28 seconds when travelling the full 762 metre length of this restriction) this is seen to be minimal and is intended to contribute to the safer travel to these destinations accessed by these roads.

Evidence suggested there was the potential for the 20mph speed limits to cause some drivers to drive more dangerously than if they were driving at a 30mph speed limit however, this is not the result of the order but of human behaviour. Scottish government have campaigns to promote safe driving such as - Road Safety Scotland - Speeding Campaign - You only have to lose control once - 30sec (youtube.com)

We consider that this order along with the wider Scottish Government speeding campaign will help to contribute to a safer environment for children. We will monitor the effect of this order to ensure that it achieves the aim of ensuring that drivers adhere to a 20mph speed limit.

Mitigation Record

What options have been considered to modify the proposal in order to mitigate negative impact or potential incompatibility issues?

Please summarise mitigation actions taken below

Issue or risk Identified per article/ Optional Protocol

Not applicable

Action Taken/ To Be Taken

Not applicable

Date action to be taken or was taken.

Not applicable

  1. As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all wellbeing indicators, will the proposal contribute to the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland? (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 26-27).

(Please choose from yes, no or not applicable)

Applicable answer: Yes

If yes, please provide and explanation below:

By lowering the speed limit, this SSI is intended to contribute to the wellbeing of children. It will likely keep them SAFE and feel NURTURED by making things such as crossing the road and moving around Carlops less dangerous.

Longer term impacts of the lower speed limit on the wellbeing of children could be that if they and their caregivers feel safer it may encourage them to walk, wheel or cycle more, keeping them ACTIVE and HEALTHY. This may remove a barrier enabling them to get around more independently increasing their sense of freedom and ability to participate in activities helping them to ACHIEVE be INCLUDED and feel RESPECTED and RESPONSIBLE.

  1. How will you communicate to children and young people the impact that the proposal will have on their rights? (Guidance Section 3.2, page 27)

This CRWIA has been written in an accessible format for all children and young people to understand. It will be published on the legislation website under the name ‘Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment’ for children and young people to see the impacts that this proposal may have.

Post Assessment Review and sign-off

  1. Planning for the review of impact on children’s rights and wellbeing (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 27).

As part of the decision-making process, plans for reviewing the impact on children’s rights and wellbeing need to be developed.

  • How will the impact of the proposal on children’s rights and wellbeing be monitored?
  • When will you review and update the CRWIA if required?

As detailed in Question 4 the impact of this SSI along with others as part of the National Strategy on 20mph limits will be monitored over a number of years through a wider study. In addition, the Road Safety Performance of the Trunk Road Network will be monitored.

  1. Sign off (Guidance Section 3.2, page 28).

Policy Lead Signature & Date of Sign Off: Alex Joannides 20/09/2024

Deputy Director Signature & Date of Sign Off: Morag Mackay 23/09/2024

Date CRWIA team first contacted: 20/06/2024

A702 Carlops 20Mph Speed Limit Order - Plan

Orders to be Revoked and Amended

Start date 3 Oct 2024 Status Region Mode of transport