To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether she will bring forward a pilot school streets initiative involving the creation of temporary restrictions on motorised traffic at drop-off and pick-up times outside of schools.

As Minister responsible for promoting and improving road safety, I want to work actively with partners to reduce death and serious injuries on our roads and I believe providing road safety measures at schools can go a long way to help.

I was therefore delighted to have been able to commit funding in this year’s capital budget towards the introduction of part-time 20 mph speed limits at around 100 schools. These measures will increase driver awareness and achieve reductions in vehicle speeds outside and near these schools ensuring that parents, children and staff will be safer as they go to and from the schools on a daily basis. Our efforts are therefore currently primarily focussing on the delivery of this challenging commitment.

However, I am also interested in the school street initiative and have asked my officials to explore options for a ‘School Street’ scheme in Northern Ireland and to liaise with the Department of Education and Sustrans.