Taxi drivers’ working time and pay were raised in the Senedd on 30 September, during a Reform UK debate on scrapping Wales’s default 20mph speed limit.
Conservative MS Janet Finch-Saunders said drivers she asks about the limit hate it and say it “actually hits their pockets”. The motion calling on the Welsh Government to scrap the default was defeated by 51 votes to 37. Members then agreed an amended motion, by 52 votes to 36, which notes that collisions and casualties have reduced on 20mph and 30mph roads and recognises progress by councils in changing some limits back to 30mph where appropriate.
The debate gave no figures for taxi journey times, fares, driver earnings or the number of drivers affected. Wales Online noted that the vote would not have forced the government to change the limit.
What was said about taxi work
Finch-Saunders told the chamber: “I get in a taxi now when I get here from Bangor Conwy Môn, and I ask the taxi driver, ‘How does the 20 mph affect you?’ And they hate it. They say it actually hits their pockets. And taxi driving isn’t the easiest job in the world.”
She backed the Reform motion. She said the Welsh Conservatives want the 30mph default restored, with 20mph kept where it protects pedestrians and vulnerable road users. She cited the Welsh Government’s 2022 impact assessment: direct financial costs of around £33 million and a central net economic disbenefit of £4.54 billion over the years.
Llŷr Powell, in whose name the motion was tabled, closed the debate on the cost of extra time on the road. He said that “for people out there, time is money when they’re on the roads—actual people needing to get from one job to the next to pay their bills, to put food on the table.” He was speaking about people travelling between jobs. He gave no fare or income figures.
Journey times on the record
Plaid Cymru MS Sarah Cooper-Lesadd said Transport for Wales found that reducing speeds to 20mph adds about one minute on average per journey.
Deputy Minister for Transport Mark Hooper said Transport for Wales monitoring for the Welsh Government shows lower average speeds on affected roads, with the impact on journey times measured in seconds for many journeys. He said journey times had become more reliable on 45 of the 60 roads monitored, and that some drivers may have very slightly longer journeys.
Green MS Paul Rock described a car journey as, on average, less than a minute quicker, and spoke of reaching destinations “50 seconds sooner”.
Those journey-time figures were left unconnected to taxi jobs or pay.
Hooper also rejected claims that the policy had cost Wales £9 billion. He said the regulatory impact assessment monetises changes in journey time under standard UK transport appraisal, and does not fully reflect the wider purpose of the policy, which he described as saving lives and reducing injuries.
How the Senedd voted
Reform MS Jason O’Connell moved motion NDM9304, tabled in Powell’s name. It called on the Welsh Government to scrap the default 20mph limit.
When the Llywydd asked if the motion could be agreed without amendment, members objected. Voting was deferred until voting time later the same day.
The results were:
- Motion without amendment: 37 for, 51 against, no abstentions. Not agreed.
- Amendment 1, tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan and moved by Hooper: 52 for, 36 against, no abstentions. Agreed.
- Motion as amended: 52 for, 36 against, no abstentions. Agreed.
The amended text notes that collisions and casualties have reduced on 20mph and 30mph roads since the default was introduced three years ago. It also recognises the progress local authorities are making in changing some speed limits back to 30mph where that is appropriate, after engagement with their communities.
Safety figures, and the missing earnings sum
Hooper said a 20mph limit where pedestrians and cyclists mix with motor vehicles remains “fundamentally the right policy”. He told the Senedd that casualties on 20mph and 30mph roads combined are 23% lower than in 2022, before the limit came into force, and that there were 19 fatalities on 20mph roads in 2025.
He said 91 people were killed on Welsh roads in 2025, more than in 2024. He said that total covers all speed limits, and is five fewer than in the last calendar year before the default. Casualty numbers fluctuate, he said, and firm conclusions need several years of monitoring. He rejected the claim that the published data shows the policy is “clearly not working”.
Reform MS Carmelo Colasanto said the data is not yet conclusive, the evaluation is unfinished, and collisions on 20mph and 30mph roads were already falling for about 10 years. David Mills, speaking for the motion, said there had been no updated economic appraisal since 2022. Colasanto asked the minister to publish that appraisal, give the Senedd firm dates for the evaluation, and drop the national default if the evaluation does not justify it. Hooper did not give those dates in the debate.
For taxi and private hire drivers in Wales, the default 20mph limit remains. Councils can still return individual roads to 30mph where the guidance allows. The new point on the record is the one Finch-Saunders reported from drivers she has asked: the limit hits their pockets. The debate supplied no taxi fare, journey-time total or earnings figure to put beside it.