Commentary on provisions of Act Section 42: Roads: speed limits
In consequence of the devolution to the Scottish Parliament of almost all powers to legislate for speed limits in Scotland, this section transfers the relevant functions of the Secretary of State to the Scottish Ministers so far as exercisable within devolved competence, within the meaning of the Scotland Act 1998.
	Section 54 of that Act provides, inter alia, that a function is outside devolved competence where it makes any provision by subordinate legislation which would be outside the legislative competence of the Parliament if it were included in an Act of the Scottish Parliament.
	Section 42 amends the following provisions of the RTRA 1984:-
	Section 81 (general speed limit for restricted roads) to:
enable the national authority to exercise the power by order to increase or reduce the speed limit for motor vehicles on restricted roads;
provide that any such order made by Scottish Ministers is subject to the affirmative procedure; and
require the Scottish Ministers and the Secretary of State to consult each other before making any such order.
	Section 82 (what roads are restricted roads), to enable the Scottish Ministers to exercise the power to make regulations specifying the classification or type of road in Scotland which is to be a restricted road; and to enable the national authority to exercise the power to prescribe in regulations the manner of publication by a traffic authority of a notice that a special road is not a restricted road.
	Section 83 (provisions as to directions by a traffic authority under section 82(2)), to provide that any direction by the national authority under section 82(2) (as the traffic authority for a road) must be made by order after giving public notice.
	Section 84 (speed limits on roads other than restricted roads), to enable the national authority to exercise the powers to make regulations which must be complied with by local authorities when making orders which prescribe speed limits and to authorise exceptions in particular cases.
	Section 85 (traffic signs for indicating speed restrictions), to:
impose upon the national authority the duty, in the case of a road for which it is the traffic authority, to erect and maintain traffic signs;
enable the national authority to exercise the powers to give general or other directions to local traffic authorities in respect of the erection, maintenance, alteration or removal of traffic signs;
enable the national authority to exercise the default powers to carry out works in respect of traffic signs in consequence of any failure by a local traffic authority to comply with directions and to recover the costs of doing so from the relevant traffic authority;
provide that the power of the Scottish Ministers to give general directions is to be exercisable by Scottish statutory instrument; and
require the Scottish Ministers and the Secretary of State to consult each other before exercising their powers to give general directions.
	Section 87 (as amended by section 19 of the Road Safety Act 2006), to:
enable the national authority (for definition of 'national authority' see paragraph 314) to exercise the power to make regulations which prescribe the purposes and circumstances in which speed limits do not apply to vehicles other than those used by the emergency services. The power to make regulations to provide exemptions from speed limits in relation to vehicles used in connection with reserved matters in Scotland remains with the Secretary of State.