Way 20mph law came in caused problems, says FM

Eluned Morgan said you create a problem "if you impose too much without laying the ground out"

The first minister has admitted that the implementation of Wales' controversial 20mph law created problems.

It was a flagship policy of former First Minister Mark Drakeford, but a review of its guidelines is underway after thousands of people signed a petition calling for it to be scrapped.

Speaking to the BBC's Newscast podcast, Eluned Morgan also defended plans to increase the number of Senedd members from 60 to 96 for the 2026 election.

She said it was getting to a point that if an MS left a committee meeting to go to the toilet, the committee had too few members still present for proceedings to be valid.

The Welsh Conservatives said they would ditch the speed limit law, which came into force in September 2023 and has arguably been the most controversial since devolution began 25 years ago.

It makes 20mph rather than 30mph the default speed limit in built up areas, with local councils able to make exceptions based on Welsh government guidelines.

The change has led to a significant public backlash, with a petition of just under half a million signatures and road signs being defaced.

But recent figures suggest that injuries on 20mph and 30mph roads fell by a third in the final quarter of last year.

Ms Morgan told the podcast that 20mph had come up regularly during her summer "listening exercise", during which she had been speaking to voters.

Local councils are currently considering what, if any, changes to make to speed limits in their area after asking the public for their views.

The first minister, and Welsh Labour leader, was asked by the BBC's Political Editor Chris Mason whether the review of the guidelines was an acknowledgement that there had been government overreach.

"I think you've got to bring people with you," she replied.

"If you impose too much without laying the ground out then, obviously, that's going to create a problem. And it created a problem, we have got to acknowledge that."

'Grumblings'

Ms Morgan added: "We have got to have a reset, we have got to have that revision and, you know, literally hundreds of people have written in to their local council saying 'how about changing this road back?'

"So we'll see where those councils come up with those exemptions.

"We're revising the guidelines. There were opportunities for councils to make exemptions and some councils took that opportunity and put loads of exemptions in place.

"And in those areas the grumblings are not so great. Other councils are saying 'okay, we'll have a look at those exemptions again'.

"But generally around schools, around hospitals and around playgrounds people want to keep that 20mph."

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said Labour ministers had "all but admitted this policy was badly implemented, but they will not scrap it".

"The first minister will know from her summer 'listening exercise' that people in Wales want the default 20mph speed limit scrapped, but the policy remains in place," he said.

"The Welsh Conservatives would scrap the policy and keep 20mph speed limits in places they’re needed, like outside schools."

The 20mph policy has faced a huge backlash

Eluned Morgan defended the increase in the size of the Senedd from 60 to 96 MSs.

"We've just had a reduction in the number of MPs at Westminster - a not insignificant number I hasten to add," she said.

There are now 32 Welsh MPs, rather than the 40 there were before this year's general election.

"The public are clearly anxious when they see more politicians, but there is good evidence that if you have better scrutiny you can hold people to account better and the resources are better allocated," she said.

"We were literally getting to the point where we couldn't run committees. If somebody went to the toilet then the committee was inquorate. You cannot run a Parliament in that way."

Wales' new voting system will use proportional representation - where seats are won based on a percentage of votes rather than one party or candidate simply gaining more votes than anyone else, known as first past the post.

The current system has a mix of the two.

The new plans open the way for parties such as Reform UK to win more seats.

The first minister said her party was taking the Reform vote "very seriously" describing it as a "challenge".

Reform did not win a Welsh seat at the recent general election for Westminster, despite coming second in 13 of Wales' 32 seats, but its 16.9% vote share would be more than enough to win seats in the Senedd's new system.

Eluned Morgan became Wales' first female first minister on 6 August

On further devolution of powers from Westminster to the Senedd, Ms Morgan said that "the most important" thing for her was to deliver "better" on what her government was already in charge of.

Amongst other things, the Welsh government controls the NHS, education and rural affairs.

She told the podcast that it "made sense" for youth justice and probation to be devolved to Wales.