Community Bus Fund - Island Communities Impact Assessment

Annex B: Island Communities Impact Assessment: Template

Step One - Develop a clear understanding of your objectives

What are the objectives of the policy, strategy or service?

The Bute House Agreement and Programme for Government 2022-23 included a commitment to establish a ‘Community Bus Fund to support local transport authorities to improve local public transport in their areas. This fund will support local authorities to explore the full range of options set out in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, including municipal bus services.’ The fund is intended to run for the remainder of this Parliamentary term.

The Act builds on and improves the existing regulatory landscape for Scotland’s bus services with the principal aim of reversing the long-standing decline in bus patronage to deliver important benefits which include sustainable economic development, carbon emission reductions and enhanced social cohesion. Bus services are a cornerstone of our economy with the sector accounting for 79% of all public transport journeys in 2021-22, and their role will become even more important as we face the increasingly pressing reality of the climate emergency.

The new provisions under the Act cover partnership working, local franchising, the power for Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to run their own bus services and improvements to the information available to LTAs when services are deregistered. They will give LTAs the tools and flexibility they need to deliver improved bus services tailored to the specific needs of their areas. Implementing the Act will make bus services more available, accessible and potentially affordable for all of society.

The Community Bus Fund (CBF) aims to support this reform by enabling local authorities, including Island communities, to complete the preparatory work required for the Act powers, as well as broader innovations and improvements to local public transport. The fund will be administered by local authorities and will focus on rural deprived areas where lower population density means bus services can be less commercially viable.

The capital element in 2023-24 will support improvements to infrastructure, and be distributed to all local authorities based on levels of transport poverty. Transport Poverty is defined as; not affordable; not available or suitable; doesn’t enable access in a reasonable time with reasonable ease; dangerous, unsafe or unhealthy travel conditions. This reflects the specific challenges rural and Island areas face in bus provision, particularly for those in poverty as without access to an alternative form of transport, households may be forced into car ownership, further increasing levels of poverty and rural deprivation in these areas.

The delivery of these benefits aligns with the Scottish Government’s National Transport Strategy 2 (NTS2). Published in February 2020, the NTS2 seeks to reduce inequalities and advance equality of opportunity and outcome, take climate action to make travel choices that minimise the long-term impacts on our climate, develop a transport system that will help deliver sustainable and inclusive economic growth and which will be safe and enable a healthy, active and fit nation.

The bus provisions within the Act also align with the Scottish Government’s 2021 Climate Change Plan Update which reflects new and ambitious targets to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2045 whilst envisaging a reduction in private car mileage of 20% by 2032.

Step Two - Gather your data and identify your stakeholders

The provision of public transport for island communities does come with distinct challenges, but respondents to the 2017 consultation paper acknowledged that improvements to bus services and infrastructure throughout Scotland can impact positively on all groups of society, as well as, playing a crucial role for island communities in supporting social cohesion, access to public services, business and tourism and connecting with wider transport networks.

The lower population density of more rural areas and Island communities mean there are fewer commercially viable routes, greater numbers of LTA-subsidised services, and connectivity challenges. Rural and Island inhabitants are less likely to have access to a frequent bus service. They are more likely to suffer from lack of commercial viability along with bus market failure and would benefit most from reform to provide improved bus provision and connectivity.

Bus is also relied on more heavily in deprived areas, with 39% of people living in a household with income less than £10,000 having used a bus at least once per week pre-COVID, compared to 14% of people living in a household with an annual income greater than £50,000. Increasing access to bus aims to reduce inequality by supporting lower earners and making it easier for them to get to work, education, and to access services.

The Community Bus Fund will help to address these challenges through targeting support to rural deprived areas using levels of transport poverty. The capital element will support improvements to infrastructure, and the resource element of the fund will support improvements to bus services. Improving transport and connectivity will have a positive impact on the list of relevant considerations for Islands and Island communities in the 2018 Act including depopulation, economic development, health and wellbeing, and community empowerment.

Step Three - Consultation

The policy for the community bus fund is aimed at supporting the policy for the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. On 14 July 2021, Transport Scotland published a consultation on ‘Implementing Part 3 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019: Bus Services’ in order to gather stakeholder and public views.

The resource element in 2023-24 will be used to identify the need for support in future years in completing the preparatory work required for the Act powers, including for Island communities. Findings from 2023-24 will be used to secure budgets and make appropriate adjustments to the fund in future years.

Step Four - Assessment

From the assessment, it is clear that Island communities face unique transport challenges in relation to connectivity and availability of bus services. We are of the view that the community bus fund supports Island communities in addressing these challenges through targeting funding based on levels of transport poverty which is defined as; not affordable; not available or suitable; doesn’t enable access in a reasonable time with reasonable ease; dangerous, unsafe or unhealthy travel conditions.

There were limited views received from the consultation on the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 in relation to Island communities, with the only request being for a paper on rural bus funding to be considered in the Island Communities impact assessment. This paper noted the difference in urban and rural services in relation to patronage, commercial viability and types of services, and viewed existing funding streams as favouring urban areas. The Community Bus Fund aims to address these concerns by targeting areas of rural deprivation to support improvements to infrastructure and services.

Step Six - Conclusion

The Community Bus Fund aims to support local authorities to reform and improve local bus services, with the distribution methodology targeted to address the unique transport challenges identified for Island Communities. Therefore in our opinion, no significantly different effects for Island communities have been determined, and a full Island Communities Impact Assessment is not required.

Outcomes will be evaluated through the reports received from local authorities for spend in 2023-24. Following the evaluation, the fund will be reviewed and any required adjustments made for future years.