Moving Traffic Enforcement consultation

From 31 May 2022, local authorities in England outside of London have been able to apply to the Secretary of State for new powers to enforce ‘moving traffic offences’ and will be able to issue fines to drivers for these offences for the first time. These are powers that have previously only been held by the police and form Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004.

Birmingham City Council is planning to use these new powers to improve safety, tackle congestion and support public travel and active travel by enforcing moving traffic offences such as:

• driving through a 'No Entry' sign
• banned right or left turns
• entering yellow box junctions when the exit is not clear
• driving where and when motor vehicles are prohibited
• driving on routes that are for buses and taxis only
• Weight restrictions

The Department for Transport (DfT) announced in 2020 that they would be fully enacting the remaining elements of the Traffic Management Act, permitting local highway authorities outside of London to use approved camera devices to enforce moving traffic contraventions.

The council is keen to use these powers to make our roads safer, less congested and to support public transport, active travel and improve air quality. Our first step is to apply to the DfT for a Designation Order to enable the council to use these powers.

We will use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to identify drivers that breach restrictions, and a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) will be issued. We aim to use these enforcement powers to:

• improve road safety
• tackle congestion
• increase the number of drivers complying with the rules of the road
• support public transport by improving journey times
• promote active travel such and walking and cycling
• improve air quality 

The council’s application to the DfT will state our intention to enforce all of the traffic signs that the government has agreed to implement. If you are in contravention of the restriction you may receive a Penalty Charge Notice, the cost is currently £70 or can be paid at a discounted rate of £35 if paid within 21 days.

The city council will be setting out the approach to the enforcement of moving traffic contraventions. In line with DfT guidance, it will state that ANPR cameras can only be used to enforce against moving traffic contraventions at sites where all other methods of deterrent have been tried, but further measures are still required. The six sites below all meet this criteria, and any future sites will have to go through the same rigorous assessment process.

The first six locations where we would like to apply these powers are:

• Newhall Street / Great Charles Queensway (A4400) (city centre) - banned left and right turns
• Bristol Road (A38) / Priory Road (B4217) (city centre) - banned left and right turns
• Kingsbury Road / Gravelly Hill (A5127) (Erdington) - banned right turn
• Corporation Street / James Watt Queensway (B4114) (city centre) - banned left turn
• Rectory Road / Midland Drive (Sutton Coldfield) - no entry
• Boldmere Road (B4142) / Cofield Road (Sutton Coldfield) - no entry

It should be noted that all ANPR equipment will be fully certified by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA).