1. House of Commons Adjournment Debate – Prevention-Based Road Safety – January
Led by Andy MacNae MP, a PACTS President, this debate focused on the postcode lottery in road safety, the need for proactive rather than reactive interventions, and ensuring local communities are heard in decision-making. This debate started off 2025 strong when it came to transport safety and allowed MPs to set out their concerns. Many of the themes raised during this debate have continued to be raised throughout the rest of the year.
2. Westminster Hall Debate – Young Drivers – January
Julia Buckley MP highlighted the experiences of bereaved families, including the story of Crystal Owen and her son Harvey. MPs called for a tailored approach to young driver safety and greater support for affected families. The momentum around the need to find tailored solutions to protect young drivers and young people impacted by collisions has continued to build during 2025.
3. Westminster Hall Debate – Active Travel & School Safety – April
With contributions from 33 MPs, this wide-ranging debate covered school streets, segregated cycle lanes, inappropriate speed limits and pavement parking. The Minister Lilian Greenwood referenced increased funding and the road safety strategy as potential routes to improvements. It is clear from the regular recurrence of debates and questions on this theme that safe routes to school continue to be one of the biggest concerns for Parliamentarians in terms of transport safety.
4. Reformation of the Transport Safety APPG - April
The re-formed All-Party Parliamentary Group on Transport Safety had its first session in April this year. The APPG has been growing in strength and now includes over 55 Parliamentarians across both Houses. Andy MacNae MP is the group’s Chair, with Officers including Aphra Brandreth MP and Baroness Pidgeon and Baroness Jones. Since re-forming, a further session on delivering road safety for communities has taken place and an inquiry has been run by the group on illegal registration plates and their impacts on road safety. The group has a lot more plans in the works and will continue to be a powerful tool to advocate for safer transport.
5. House of Commons Adjournment Debate – Local Road Safety Powers - June
Sam Rushworth MP and others raised concerns about the lack of powers for parish and town councils in road safety matters. While the Government ruled out devolving powers, MPs stressed the need for better local consultation and design based on the Safe System. This debate reflects another theme that has persisted in Parliament this year; the need for local communities to have their concerns listened to and for transport safety measures to be proactive rather than reactive.
6. The Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment Debate – July
This debate has become an annual occurrence, where MPs are given the opportunity to speak about any topics they would like to, typically covering multiple focus areas in their speeches. Transport safety was raised on several occasions, with topics such as step free access at railway stations, cross-border taxi licensing, safer streets with cleaner air, rural road safety and issues around community involvement in improving road safety raised. Given the choice to speak about any topics they wanted to, six of the roughly 30 MPs involved explicitly spoke about transport safety. This was another sign that safety is a priority.
7. Westminster Hall Debate on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles – October
The debate, tabled by Sarah Coombes MP with briefing support from PACTS, involved 16 MPs including the Minister for Roads and Buses Simon Lightwood. Sarah Coombes centred her remarks on safety, accessibility, and economic growth, calling for action on the “fatal five,” robust data sharing, and inclusive transport solutions. Other MPs echoed complementary concerns including calls for a proper data framework, the importance of public trust and clear liability, cautioning that one major incident could erode public confidence. This was a timely debate given that the first autonomous vehicle trials are due on UK roads in 2026, it was encouraging to see that many of the themes PACTS has raised around AVs are reflected by Parliamentarians.
8. House of Lords Oral Questions on Annual KSI Figures – November
This oral question session fell during Road Safety Week 2025 and was a timely opportunity to maintain pressure on the Government to improve road safety. As we know, over 1,600 people die and 30,000 more are seriously injured on UK roads each year, this is not an inevitability. The societal cost of collisions is a figure that continues to rise. Between 2023 and 2024 there was a 20% increase, reaching an estimated £55 billion. The Government in response to the debate reiterated that it is committed to reducing road casualties and will publish a road safety strategy guided by the Safe System.
9. Ghosts on the Road – Tackling the Rise in Illegal Registration Plates – December
The APPG for Transport Safety rounded off 2025 with its first inquiry in several years, on the theme of illegal registration, a cause spearheaded by Sarah Coombes MP. In the report the APPG warned that that the UK’s outdated and poorly regulated number plate system has created a vast and rapidly growing crisis that enables criminals and organised crime groups to operate undetected on our road network, lets dangerous drivers off the hook, poses serious safety concerns, and leads to a significant loss of public funds. There are hopes that the forthcoming road safety strategy will include actions to tackle the growing problem of illegal registration plates, and the report presents a good basis of evidence and recommendations to ensure these actions are sufficient. This report also demonstrates the strength of the APPG as a vehicle to push for safety improvements in Parliament.
10. Transport Legislation – All of 2025
Throughout 2025 there has been several pieces of legislation that have implications for transport safety. In some cases, this has been through Government legislation like the Bus Services Act, Railways Bill or the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, all of which have implications for transport safety. In other case it has been through the introduction of Private Bills by MPs, these have ranged from topics like registration plates to road safety around schools and equestrian safety. The large number of Private Bills that have a transport safety focus is really encouraging and demonstrates that safety is certainly back on the agenda in this Parliament. The Government’s road safety strategy is also believed to be imminent, and PACTS hopes that this is paired with sufficient legislative changes to meaningfully implement the Safe System. It remains to be seen whether the strategy will be an early Christmas present or whether it will start 2026 off with a bang.
