A bid to return the default speed limit in built-up areas in Wales to 30mph has been defeated in the Welsh Parliament.

The Welsh Conservatives put forward a motion to the Senedd on Wednesday to overturn a law which set the default speed limit at 20mph in built-up areas.

But Plaid Cymru and Labour members overwhelmingly voted to reject the proposal, arguing the policy was helping improve road safety across the country.

Wales became the first country in the UK to reduce the default speed limit in built-up areas in September last year.

The move has been controversial, with a petition against the law having been signed by nearly 470,000 people – the largest in Senedd history.

The Welsh Government has said cutting the speed limit will protect lives and save the NHS in Wales £92 million a year.

It predicts the change will save up to 100 lives and 20,000 casualties in the first decade.

However, both the former and present transport ministers have accepted there were issues with the way the policy was implemented.

The Conservative shadow minister for transport, Natasha Asghar MS, told the Senedd the lower speed limit could cost the Welsh economy up to £9 billion and argued it should be scrapped.

She said: “It’s been a year since the rollout of this policy, and despite Labour ministers telling us all that the people of Wales would eventually get used to it and that the uproar surrounding it was pretty much down to people just not liking it, I think we now know for sure that this is purely a firefighting move in an attempt to downplay public sentiment.”

While she said the new transport secretary Ken Skates had a “more pragmatic, sensible stance” and welcomed his “listening programme” to investigate areas that should change back, she referred to the rollout as “draconian”.

First woman of colour in the Welsh Parliament
Conservative MS for South Wales region Natasha Asghar (Ben Birchall/PA)

Lee Waters, the former transport minister who implemented the policy, argued it was clear the policy was working, insisting the data showed average speeds were down and collisions on all roads were at their lowest since the Covid lockdowns.

He said: “Casualties are down by 32%, which is the single most effective road safety intervention that has been made.

“And lives have been saved – six fewer deaths in the first six months compared to the year before.

“The Conservatives say that the policy has been disastrous. I think that these are results that we can be proud of.”

Mr Waters accused the Tories of political “opportunism”, arguing the Conservatives supported 20mph limits in many of the areas they had been implemented.

Mr Skates said he did not believe the Labour and Conservative positions were that far apart, and areas where the reduced speed limit was wrong were being looked at.

Senedd members voted against the motion by 37 to 14.