THE DEPUTY minister who was in charge of slashing the default speed limit in Wales to 20mph has named the people who will lead a review into the policy - and given a timeline for the results.

In a letter to council leaders dated today, January 23, deputy minister for climate change Lee Waters said: “The Welsh Government has appointed a small team to work with local authorities to consider the way the policy has been implemented and how the exceptions guidance has been applied.”

The team includes Phil Jones, the transport consultant who acted as chair of the government's 20mph task force group during the initial rollout.

South Wales Argus: Phil Jones, who chaired the 20mph task force, is on the review panelPhil Jones, who chaired the 20mph task force, is on the review panel (Image: Senedd)

Kaarina Ruta, a transport adviser for the Welsh Local Government Association, is also on the review team.

Ms Ruta’s posts on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) include fundraising for a “20s plenty” campaign in the Vale of Glamorgan and videos by the Welsh Government relating to the benefits of the default limit.

Professor Peter Jones, a professor or transport and sustainable development at University College London, has also been named on the panel.

In his letter, Mr Waters said: “Professor Jones has had no involvement in 20mph implementation and will provide independent challenge to the process.”

Despite this, the Welsh Government website lists Professor Jones as a member of the South East Wales Transport Commission which recommended an "integrated network" of travel options after plans to build an M4 relief road were scrapped.

South Wales Argus: Professor Peter Jones is a member of the South East Wales Transport CommissionProfessor Peter Jones is a member of the South East Wales Transport Commission (Image: Welsh Government)

The team will work with Welsh Government, local authorities and other “experts and partners” to review the implementation of the 20mph policy to date.

There have already been meetings to consider “understanding of the application” of guidance in different parts of Wales, whether clarifications were needed to encourage consistency, and the approach taken to roads “on the threshold” between 20mph and 30mph guidance.

When will the review into 20mph be completed?

Initial findings have been shared with local authority officers, the deputy minister said.

Draft conclusions and initial recommendations will be submitted for publication in February, with a full report submitted in time for the Senedd’s summer recess, which begins Monday, July 22.

Both candidates to succeed Mark Drakeford as first minister, economy minister Vaughan Gething and education minister Jeremy Miles, have committed to completing the review.

Natasha Asghar, shadow transport minister for the Welsh Conservatives, has said: "Welsh people don’t want a review of 20mph, they want it reversed.

“People in Wales already have little faith in a review led by the man who recommended that the Welsh Government adopt this policy in the first place alongside two other Welsh Government devotees. It is hardly going to be fair and impartial.

“The Welsh Labour Government could remove all these difficulties by simply scrapping the blanket 20mph policy.”

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said: “This review, as we set out in October, is looking at how the new default 20mph speed limit has been implemented across Wales.

"It is not a review into the policy itself which has been overwhelmingly supported by Senedd members from three parties."