Readers' Letters: Why introduce 20mph zones when there is no enforcement?

A reader is not convinced that more 20mph roads in Edinburgh will make much difference to residents

Your report on reducing traffic speed in Edinburgh (4 December) makes interesting reading.

Sadly, even at septaguenarian pace, sometimes it is faster and more reliable to walk the three miles to the city centre than risk public transport. This is not to undermine buses and trams, but rather reflects the never-ending roadworks and diversions that cause gridlock and delays. Add potholes to the mix. And imperfect re-instatement of surfaces after utility and other works. Is the current model of contractors and sub-contractors with no clear line of responsibility working? The former direct labour organisations at least put councils firmly on the spot for blame, and indeed praise for good work.

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20mph zones may sound impressive but the reality is that there seems to be no enforcement. As an occasional driver, I’ve been overtaken rather too often when abiding by the speed limit to feel safe either in a vehicle or on foot.

A total of 66 more roads in Ediniburgh have been earmarked for 20mph speed limits (Picture: Neil Hanna)A total of 66 more roads in Ediniburgh have been earmarked for 20mph speed limits (Picture: Neil Hanna)
A total of 66 more roads in Ediniburgh have been earmarked for 20mph speed limits (Picture: Neil Hanna)

During 13 years as a city councillor my pet bugbear was the highways department. Its name changed often, but my abiding impression was that decisions were based on deskwork, rather than experience at the coal face. Local people know and understand traffic flows and need in their areas. After all, they live there.

Traffic laws from central government used to demand speed reduction measures before speed limits could be reduced. There is a legacy of now unnecessary poorly-maintained speed bumps, ill-loved by ambulance drivers and motoring organisations. White markings are sometimes so faded that the bumps are near-invisible in these darker days.

Moyra Forrest, Edinburgh

Road rage

A different Edinburgh Council transport convener but the same fixed views about reducing city speed limits to 20mph. The council admits that “public opinion is divided on extending 20mph limits” but, as previous so-called consultation processes have proved, opinions contrary the council’s wish are largely ignored.

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One aspect upon which there is a unanimous public view is the ongoing deterioration of the city’s roads. The council should put more focus – and effort – on using their limited resources to restore road surfaces and so allow all road users to travel more safely throughout the city.

Derek Stevenson, Edinburgh

Knowledge gaps

The Peter Principle says that people in a hierarchy tend to be promoted according to their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent because skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another.

This principle becomes even more worrying in the case of SNP Scottish ministers who are frequently reshuffled across hierarchies. This means that when a minister moves, his/her knowledge of the new portfolio is missing.

But is this gap adequately compensated for by a Civil Service staffed to ensure that corporate knowledge is maintained? I think not, because the Scottish Government is so good at producing large numbers of word salad strategies (and, according to the Auditor General, now recycling the NHS one that he had slated in 2020) but so bad at management and execution, involving the squandering of so many millions of taxpayers’ money.

Hamish Johnston, Balloch, Highland

Wake-up call

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Audit Scotland’s warnings that affordability of healthcare spending is an urgent issue (Scotsman, 3 December) has never rung more true.

Every year, Marie Curie Scotland cares for more than 8,000 people at home, and in our two Scottish hospices. But our services are under pressure – in common with the NHS and social care provision that people rely on at the end of life. With 95 per cent of people in Scotland predicted to need palliative care come 2040, the response to Audit Scotland's report must be a rethink about the way that resources and relationships are directed, towards partnerships and planning instead of expensive reactivity and siloed budgets.

This is why Marie Curie Scotland campaigns to realise a right to palliative care: a rights-based approach to system change which recognises that so much of the resource used in our health and care services is on people in the last year of their lives. Much of this is people being admitted to hospital which leads to unnecessary suffering, worse outcomes, and extra cost.

With the right care and support, many could stay in the place they call home. If we can do end-of-life care better and recognise the role of palliative care, it goes a long way to solving a lot of problems and reducing the pressure on the NHS.

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Amy Dalrymple, Associate Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Marie Curie Scotland, Edinburgh

Red tape burden

I suspect much of the blame for the struggle of the care service and the ability of the NHS to gather in vast resources without noticeable increase in performance can be laid at the door of the bureaucracy in the NHS.

My own experience and that of many friends is that the front line of the NHS is delivering an amazing efficient, caring service. It was not the front-line staff, who, when the care service was split from the NHS, decided to retain a proportion of the care budget within the NHS, thus seeing the care sector immediately struggling.

It was not the NHS front-line staff who closed single beds to accommodate office staff and closed local hospitals with an assurance that the administrators had fully taken into account the growing elderly population living longer. It was not front-line staff that introduced administrative systems that were less than helpful.

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Hospitals often see more individuals carrying clipboards than delivering front-line care. I suggest it is time to return to medical and nursing staff on the front line having control (Sisters and Matrons for nursing). No big redundancy payments, but present salaries frozen until they equate with the appropriate level for providing the simple tasks required.

‘Administrators’ in all areas appear to have a great capacity to increase their workload – leading to more staff and increased top salaries. Look no further than the universities that saw (i) a drive for foreign students that increased income and with it top salaries, but with no decrease in salaries when income drops. (ii) a move to a plethora of ‘fancy degrees’ which bear little relationship to the need of the workplace. No wonder students from ‘poorer’ backgrounds wonder if they can afford the luxury of education for education’s sake rather than a degree that will facilitate their entrance into the job market.

James Watson, Dunbar, East Lothian

NHS success

Jill Stephenson (Letters, 4 December) fails to appreciate that Britain and the NHS is broken. On Monday, David Walsh, a public health expert at Glasgow University, said there appears to be a lack of “political will” in Westminster to axe Tory welfare policies. His new book, Social Murder? Austerity and Life Expectancy in the UK, argues that policies such as benefit sanctions and cuts resulted in life expectancy falling and death rates increasing in the most deprived parts of the UK.

The National Insurance increase will directly cost Scotland’s NHS health boards £191 million next year plus another £210m for GPs, dentists, pharmacists, care homes and third sector charities etc who will all seek increased funding.

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Despite all this, Scotland’s NHS remains the best performing in the UK with 98 per cent of the thousands of planned operations consistently going ahead every month. Full emergency A&E waiting times are significantly shorter in Scotland. The waiting list backlog is roughly the same as in England while cancer treatment waiting times are much better in Scotland.

Fraser Grant, Edinburgh

Wrong track

We learn that three rail operators in England are to be renationalised next year by the Labour Westminster government following legislation being passed enabling it to do so. ScotRail was taken into public management by the SNP Holyrood administration in 2022.

Yet those of us with memories dating back to the pre-privatisation of railways and recent experience of travelling by ScotRail (or Scotfail as it's widely termed by commuters) know that changing who runs a train service absolutely doesn’t improve service provision and quality.

I fear that in a few years’ time, we will realise that rail renationalisation was largely driven by political dogma and that services haven’t particularly improved as a consequence.

Martin Redfern, Melrose, Scottish Borders

Free speech

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It’s surely worrying to read that the rector of St. Andrews University, Stella Maris, has been excluded from attending the upcoming graduation ceremony and presidency of the University Court (Scotsman, 4 December) Surely, in a university, of all places, free speech must be the very essence and diversity of viewpoints prevail.

Once the figures of those killed in Gaza topped 42,000, there seems to have been a deafening silence as to the mounting casualties, far too many of whom are innocent women and children..

I have to accept that Stella Maris’s view is not universally accepted or acceptable, but that’s not to say it shouldn’t be heard, and result in her suspension from at least some of her rectorial duties. Hers is a voice speaking out on behalf of the voiceless and must be listened to, if not heeded.

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

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