Road safety campaigners criticise transport roles

West Midlands mayor Richard Parker said road safety was "a top priority"

Road safety campaigners have criticised two new transport commissioner roles for 'not reflecting the scale of the challenge'.

West Midlands mayor Richard Parker has started a search for a road safety commissioner and an active travel commissioner for the region, who will both work one day a week.

But Better Streets for Birmingham said it believed this represented a downgrade to the previous cycling and walking commissioner role.

The mayor's office said it did not want to waste taxpayer's money on duplicating work already carried out by Transport for West Midlands.

The two new commissioners will each be paid an honorarium of £200 per day.

The campaign group said "the scale and complexity of the road safety challenge is vast for a part-time volunteer", and cycling and walking projects were running five years behind.

It raised concerns the active travel commissioner role had been reduced from working three days a week to one day while pay had been cut by more than 40%.

Martin Price, policy lead at Better Streets for Birmingham, said "many residents will be rightly disappointed that while London can pay £110,000 a year for their active travel commissioner, the West Midlands could only find £20,000 for two roles".

He added: "These roles do not reflect the scale or urgency of the challenge."

'Good wage'

Mr Parker, who launched a Regional Road Safety Action Plan 2024-2030 at the National Road Safety Conference on Wednesday, said the roles were "purposefully distinct from our full-time staff positions".

He added the West Midlands Combined Authority already had a dedicated road safety manager, "supported by colleagues across our organisation who are fully committed to road safety".

Mr Parker said it was the only such authority in the country with a dedicated road safety commissioner and they would work closely with West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster.

A spokesperson for the mayor said most people would consider "around £200 a day for a voluntary role a good wage".

The road safety action plan includes 23 measures to improve safety on roads in the West Midlands.

Among them, extra staff will be funded to review dashcam and speed camera footage, and work undertaken with local authorities to design safer streets.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.