UK councils have spent more than £41.9 million introducing new 20mph roads over the past 3 years, new data reveals.
That is according to figures obtained by Confused.com through Freedom of Information requests to local councils. The lower limits, brought in to cut speeds and make streets safer for all road users, have spread rapidly across the country. Far from easing off, the spending is accelerating: £16.7 million of the total came in 2025/26 alone, the highest of any year in the period.
Below are the top 10 UK councils that spent the most introducing 20mph roads between the financial years 2023/24 and 2025/26.
Local Council Cost of new schemes in the last 3 years
Hertfordshire £ 4,644,924
Oxfordshire £ 3,029,200
Cornwall £ 2,664,026
Neath Port Talbot £ 2,126,000
Aberdeenshire £ 2,107,654
Cardiff £ 2,056,444
Swansea £ 1,893,000
Flintshire £ 1,796,000
Redbridge £ 1,285,000
Newham £ 1,245,187
20mph limits have become increasingly common across the UK, although the way they have been brought in differs from nation to nation.
In Wales, they became the default on most roads in towns and cities in 2023,(2) while Scotland is rolling them out more gradually, council by council, under a national strategy introduced in 2024.
In England, where there is no national policy, the limits appear only where individual councils choose to introduce them, as areas including Cornwall, Oxfordshire and several London boroughs have done.
Whereas, in Northern Ireland, 20mph limits mainly apply to roads outside schools for now, with a recent public consultation on wider residential use having run from January to April 2026.
But the rollout has not been one-way. In the last 3 years, at least 174 roads throughout the UK have already been returned to a higher speed limit after being made 20mph. The vast majority (92%) of these reversals were in Wales, where the national 20mph default drew significant public opposition.
Flintshire has rolled back the most, at 47 roads, despite spending over £1.79 million introducing 20mph limits in the first place. Close behind are the Isle of Anglesey, which has reversed 27 after spending £786,445, and Newport, which has reversed 21 after spending £796,000. Outside Wales, only a handful of councils have started to restore higher limits on individual roads. Perth and Kinross (Scotland) has done so on 8 roads, and Southampton (England) on 4.
Lower limits are only one side of the crackdown on speed. While councils set the limits, it’s police forces who enforce them, and the number of speeding notices has been rising. Figures obtained by Confused.com through Freedom of Information requests show police forces handed out 7.5 million Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIP) between the financial years 2023/24 and 2025/26, a rise of 14% over the period. A NIP is the first letter drivers receive after being caught speeding, which can lead to a fine, awareness course or prosecution.(6)
Some areas have seen enforcement rise sharply. West Midlands Police issued almost 5 times as many speeding notices as it did 3 years ago, rising from 34,887 in 2023/24 to 162,591 in 2025/26. Numbers in North Wales Police nearly quadrupled its total, up from 11,980 to 46,285, while Suffolk Constabulary more than tripled, climbing from 6,206 to 18,970.
Despite this, the cameras meant to catch speeding drivers are not always working. Across the forces that provided figures, fixed speed cameras were recorded out of service on at least 493 occasions over the past 3 years, including at least 189 in 2025/26 alone.(7) Surrey and Lincolnshire accounted for the most by far, at 155 and 154 respectively, well ahead of Police Scotland (71), Sussex (30) and Avon and Somerset (29).
Most drivers are not aware of this. A survey of 2,000 UK drivers found that almost half (48%) assume every speed camera they pass is switched on and working, but around 1 in 8 (13%) already know of at least one camera in their area that is switched off, faulty or not working. A similar number (12%) worry that faulty cameras might catch drivers incorrectly.
That doubt feeds into wider questions about the speeding limits and cameras on our roads. More than half (53%) think 20mph limits make sense near schools and homes, but not on main and through roads, and more than a quarter (26%) believe the limits have been rolled out too widely and should be scaled back. Meanwhile, just under a third (32%) believe speed cameras actually make roads safer, and around 1 in 7 (14%) say they would trust them more if they could see where the fine money went.
Many drivers are also unclear on the penalties they face. Almost a third (32%) were unaware that the maximum speeding fine is higher on a motorway (£2,500) than on other roads (£1,000), and 30% were unaware that fines can be based on how much you earn. The costs can also extend well beyond the fine itself, with drivers who were caught seeing their insurance rise by an average of £80. Yet for 1 in 5 (20%), even the NIP was something they had never heard of.
For all that scepticism, the risk they are meant to address is real. Almost three quarters (74%) of drivers admit to exceeding the speed limit while driving, and more than a third (37%) say they see other drivers exceeding the speed limit in their area every day. That behaviour matters; Department for Transport figures show speed was a factor in more than half (52%) of fatal road collisions in 2025.(8) It is exactly this risk that speed cameras and lower limits are meant to reduce.
Overall, the findings point to a growing unease about how speed is currently policed on Britain’s roads, but the danger speeding poses is not in doubt. For drivers who want to understand the real cost of getting caught, Confused.com’s speeding fine calculator gives an estimate of the fine and penalty points they could face based on a few details about the offence.
Matt Crole-Rees, motoring expert at Confused.com car insurance, comments:
“Our latest research reveals how much 20mph has reshaped Britain’s roads, with councils spending over £41 million rolling out lower limits in the past 3 years. But even as the limits spread, at least 174 roads have already been switched back to higher speeds, as more than half (53%) drivers think 20mph works near schools and homes but not on main roads.
“Behind every one of those speed limit changes is a road safety issue. Speed is one of the biggest factors in collisions, and the faster a vehicle is travelling, the less time a driver has to react and the more serious the consequences can be, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists near homes and schools. Whether it’s lower limits or speed cameras, the aim is still to slow drivers down where a crash would do the most harm.
“Sticking to the limit, whatever it is, keeps you and other road users safe, and it protects your licence too. If you are caught speeding, the minimum penalty is a £100 fine and 3 points, though it can be higher depending on your income and how far over the limit you were driving. It’s also worth remembering the costs can continue long after the fine is paid, as a speeding offence can push up your insurance premiums too. Using our speeding fine calculator can help you work out how much you might owe if you are caught.”
