Section 19 of the Road Safety Act 2006 has not yet been brought into force, and there is no confirmed implementation date set.
- Section 19 enables the Secretary of State for Transport to make regulations — for example on exemptions from posted speed limits for emergency or other vehicles, linked to mandated training — but it has not yet been commenced and currently remains un-implemented on the statute book.
In April 2024, the Department for Transport said it was considering how best to take forward implementation and had not laid the necessary secondary legislation.
By June 2025, Ministers stated that officials were still working on the complex draft regulations required to commence Section 19, and no timetable for laying those regulations had been set. Once that work is complete, the Government will consider enabling Section 19, particularly in relation to mandated driving instruction standards for emergency services.
In short: there is currently no published implementation date for Section 19. Its commencement depends on the Government completing and laying secondary legislation, which remains under development.
There is no publicly confirmed statutory review process of emergency vehicle exemptions linked specifically to Section 19 of the Road Safety Act 2006 at this time, but the Government’s stated proposals and consultation intentions strongly suggest that the regimes of exemption will be reviewed and re-set when Section 19 is brought into force.
Here’s what is currently clear from available Government information:
What Section 19 is intended to do
- Section 19 has not yet been commenced, and requires secondary legislation (regulations) before it can take effect.
- The regulations to commence Section 19 are expected to replace the existing speed limit exemption regime under Section 87 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 with a new scheme under Section 19.
How exemptions will be handled under Section 19
- Government consultation documents have proposed that:
- Section 19 will allow the Secretary of State to designate additional vehicle purposes as exempt from posted speed limits (beyond the current police, fire, ambulance list), subject to justification.
- Regulations will include mandatory high-speed driver training standards that drivers must meet before being permitted to exceed speed limits or otherwise operate under exemptions.
- The regime for granting exemptions will be set out in secondary legislation (i.e. the regulations made under Section 19) rather than left solely in primary legislation.
Government statements about broader changes
- A written parliamentary answer in 2023 indicated the Government intends that the legislation to commence Section 19 will:
- create new emergency exemption purposes;
- set a simplified process for adding further emergency purposes via secondary legislation;
- harmonise access to blue lights and sirens for certain voluntary responders.
What this implies about review
It does not yet appear that an independent statutory review process (e.g. a mandated formal “review clause”) has been published in relation to Section 19. However:
- Because the current consultation proposals would reshape the exemption framework, the exemptions themselves would, by necessity, be reviewed and re-defined as part of that regulatory process.
- Regulations will likely spell out how exemptions apply, the conditions for training and certification, and any ongoing review mechanisms (for example, periodic consultation requirements or regulatory reviews), but those details will only become clear once the draft regulations are laid and consulted on.
Summary
Yes — when Section 19 is implemented, the existing exemptions for emergency vehicles (currently under Section 87 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984) are expected to be reviewed and re-set in new regulations made under Section 19, including the scope of exemptions and training requirements.
❌ No publicly published formal statutory review mechanism specific to Section 19’s exemption regime has been announced yet.
❓ Details on review frequency, criteria or scope will depend on the content of the secondary legislation once it is drafted and laid before Parliament
Useful official sources
Check for updates:
- UK Government consultations page (search section 19 / speed limit exemptions):
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations
- Legislation.gov.uk commencement orders:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/
- Written parliamentary questions and answers:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/
There are currently no published draft regulations specifically laid before Parliament for the implementation of section 19 of the Road Safety Act 2006 (which would set out how the detailed regulatory regime under that section would work). However, the topic has been under consultation and active internal development for many years:
🔎 Current Status
- Government consultation work in the past
- The UK Department for Transport previously published a consultation on speed limit exemptions, which proposed how section 19 might be brought into effect and what the regulations could look like, including the introduction of mandatory high-speed training courses and new exemption categories.
- No draft statutory instrument published yet
- As of the most recent governmental statements, no draft statutory instrument (regulations) has been formally published or laid before Parliament to implement section 19. There’s no entry on legislation.gov.uk indicating commencement or draft regulations currently in force or pending.
- Government acknowledges drafting work is ongoing
- In April 2024, the Department for Transport said it was “currently considering how best to take forward implementation” of section 19, including the necessary secondary legislation.
- In June 2025, a follow-up written answer confirmed that officials were continuing to work on “complex draft regulations” required to commence section 19, and that once complete, the Government would consider enabling the section — particularly regarding mandated emergency driving training.
📌 What Section 19 Would Do (in regulatory terms)
Once implemented (through secondary legislation), section 19 would allow the Secretary of State to make regulations about:
- Exemptions from speed limits for specified vehicle purposes in certain circumstances;
- Mandatory requirements for training courses in high-speed driving before exemptions can be claimed;
- Approval and oversight of training providers, evidencing of course completion, and related matters.
📅 Timeline & Expectations
- There is no confirmed timetable for when the draft regulations will be published or laid before Parliament.
- Parliamentary correspondence suggests development remains ongoing, but progress has been slow and no government statement has provided a specific legislative timetable.
Here’s the latest on the review of emergency exemptions (including speed limit exemptions) under the Road Safety Act 2006 and the proposed implementation of section 19:
🔎 Government activity and status
- No formal draft regulations yet published
As of early 2026, the Department for Transport (DfT) has not yet published draft statutory instruments specifically implementing section 19 — including emergency speed limit exemptions or high-speed driver training regulations. There’s no sign on legislation.gov.uk of any draft regulations laid before Parliament that would revise or replace the current exemptions regime.
- Government has acknowledged ongoing development
In parliamentary written answers, ministers have confirmed that the government intends to introduce secondary legislation needed to:
- Commence section 19;
- Create a mandatory minimum level of driver training before certain exemptions (such as exceeding speed limits) can be claimed;
- Enable the inclusion of new narrowly defined emergency exemption purposes via regulations rather than primary legislation.
This indicates that work on a draft of the associated regulations (e.g. “Speed Limit Exemptions Regulations” and “High Speed Driver Training Regulations”) is underway within DfT, but they have not yet reached the stage of a public draft or parliamentary laying.
- Older consultation & impact assessment remain the basis of policy development
The last substantive public consultation on extending speed limit exemptions and possibly bringing section 19 into force dates from 2012–2013, when stakeholders were invited to comment on proposals to extend exemptions beyond police, fire, ambulance and SOCA and to set training requirements before exemptions could be claimed.
Since then, policy intent has remained broadly consistent — allowing additional emergency or life-critical vehicle purposes to claim exemptions only after prescribed training — but with long delays in producing the actual regulations.
📌 What this means in practice right now
- Current legal exposure for emergency drivers still depends on existing exemptions in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (section 87), because section 19 has not yet been commenced.
- Organisations such as ambulance trusts are still managing driver training and use of exemptions internally, and may follow voluntary standards anticipating future section 19 requirements.
- The government recognises the issues with current law (including the need for training standards and clarity on exemptions) and intends to legislate; but no formal review outcome or draft is yet published for consultation or parliamentary scrutiny.
📅 Ongoing environment
While section 19 implementation remains pending, the government’s 2026 Road Safety Strategy has been published, which sets out a wider programme of policy reviews and consultations aimed at reducing casualties — though it does not itself include formal secondary legislation on emergency exemptions.
