Strategic Plan – key engagements and achievements

MACS' work plan sets out an overview of the Committee's planned work for a 12 month performance period (1 April to 31 March) to ensure alignment with Programme for Government (PfG) commitments (to support the wider strategic policies of Scottish Ministers and Government), to give advice to assist with the progress of the National Transport Strategy 2 (NTS2) and the Accessible Travel Frameworks (ATF), and to focus on progressing towards the delivery of the agreed five high level objectives from MACS Strategic Plan.

MACS Strategic Plan: Five High Level Objectives 2021 to 2024

Objective One: To build on the commitments in Programme for Government (PfG) to promote a fair, accessible and inclusive Scotland.

Objective Two: To work across Cabinet and Ministerial portfolios to ensure the need for an accessible transport system is recognised and cited as an enabler.

Objective Three: To ensure that the Scottish Government makes it clear that public bodies and local authorities have a duty to respect the legislation regulating improvements of the accessibility of public transport service provision and the surrounding infrastructures.

Objective Four: To advocate for engagement with MACS when developing or revising policy, plans or contracts by officials to gain expert advice and ensure accessibility is given a priority consideration. This includes using procurement and franchise opportunities when awarding contracts to promote accessibility in transport provisions.

Objective Five: To advocate for an effective and inclusive "just transition" in our review of the National Transport Strategy, the Accessible Travel Framework and supporting strategic plans and route maps. Our reviews will acknowledge progress, identify barriers and gaps and make recommendations to assist with the delivery of these commitments as we make transport more accessible and sustainable.

These five high level objectives are derived from MACS Strategic Plan for 2021 to 2024 and have been agreed by MACS Committee Members prior to seeking approval from the Minister for Transport.

The work plan covers the following areas necessary to deliver on our strategic remits and progress our objectives:

Engaging with disabled people (listening, learning and advocacy)
Engaging and collaborating with key stakeholders (providing advice, challenge, and scrutiny)
Engaging with Scottish Ministers and providing advice on the travel needs of disabled people.
Responding to consultations and calls for evidence (advocacy)
Providing guidance and scrutiny to the National Transport Strategy (NTS2) and the Accessible Travel Framework (ATF)
Developing and learning as a Committee, and
Monitoring and reporting on our performance.

During 2022 to 2023 MACS prioritised and engaged more intensely in the following areas:

Closing the Mobility Gap through the National Transport Strategy (NTS2), the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), the National Planning Framework (NPF4) and the Accessible Travel Framework (ATF)
Making active travel work for disabled people, including through Transport Scotland's Active Travel Delivery Plan
Motability and the Scottish Governments Accessible Vehicle and Equipment Scheme (AVES)
Transport to Health and Social Care, including the NHS Recovery Plan commitments in Programme for Government.
Demand-Responsive Transport, including highlighting inequalities with the National Entitlement Card (concessionary travel) and taxi schemes (linked to tackling inequalities and reducing the mobility gap)
The Connected Scotland Strategy and advocating the role of Available, Accessible and Affordable public transport provision to enable human rights, keep people and communities connected and reduce social isolation and loneliness, and
The National Islands Plan and Islands Connectivity Plan.

The above areas will link to developing policies such as Mobility as a Service and Mobility Hubs.

Objective One

To build on the commitments in Programme for Government (PfG) to promote a fair, accessible and inclusive Scotland.

To help deliver this priority MACS secured a number of cross-portfolio meetings with Scottish Ministers and Officials throughout the year to ensure progress towards PfG commitments. We used these engagement opportunities to amplify the voices of disabled people and give advice on what needs to be done to make transport and travel (and all it enables) Available, Accessible and Affordable (MACS Triple A check).

MACS continue to work from PfG and use these commitments as an anchor and lever for our work and in the scrutiny and advice we provide in supporting Ministerial policies.

As a large part of our work on this we have continued to use external engagements, consultation responses and core key messaging to better understand and work with stakeholders to progress identified areas of PfG. Some key examples of this are below:

Closing the Mobility Gap through the National Transport Strategy (NTS2), the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), the National Planning Framework (NPF4) and the Accessible Travel Framework (ATF)

During the year MACS advocated for the revival of the Transport Equalities Network (or similar) to assist and ensure the work to "reduce inequalities", in line with the first pillar of NTS2, continued to be progressed and was measured through a meaningful performance and evaluation framework, our asks are now being progressed by Transport Scotland (TS).

We also responded to the consultation on the review of the STPR2 and our contribution can be found at the link below:

View Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland Response to Transport Scotland's consultation on the Strategic Transport Projects Review April 2022

MACS also sought opportunities to build our relationship with the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth, Tom Arthur MSP. This allowed us to influence the National Planning Framework and developing policies. Our approach was well received by the Minister, and we now have a beneficial relationship to work from.

In 2022 to 2023, in discussion with the Accessibility Team within TS, we voiced and noted our continued frustration and concerns at the lack of progress (and evaluation) of the Accessible Travel Framework particularly as it now enters the final third of a ten year strategy. We are hopeful that we will see a more focused approach emerge during 2023 to 2024, which needs to include an evaluation of the previous actions and detail measurable deliverables for the remainder of the framework.

Making active travel work for disabled people, including through Transport Scotland's Active Travel Delivery Plan

During the course of the year, we explored inclusive active travel initiatives which advocate a just transition for disabled people as we work towards the Scottish Government's Programme for Government commitments to reduce car kilometres by 20% by 2030 to help tackle the climate emergency.

As part of this, a questionnaire regarding the availability of non standard bikes and ebikes for public hire was sent to 32 Local Authorities; to gather information to inform the advice MACS give to Scottish Ministers and TS. This information will also inform our discussion with wider stakeholders and had been requested as a result of concerns that have been raised with us by the disabled community in Scotland. They feel there is a lack of affordable opportunities to hire bikes and ebikes through onstreet hire schemes, including those cited at transport termini, near greenspaces and tourist attractions. We will look to publish the results of this piece of work later this year.

We have also continued our involvement in the Inclusive Design Guidance in Town Centres and Busy Streets. We have representation on the working group for this piece of work, which has been reviewed and edited to align with existing Transport Scotland productions. A draft for review was issued in February and a future meeting with the working group will be scheduled later this year. We have submitted comments to the leading officials expressing concerns about a number of changes. It is MACS' opinion that it is important that the original document is not diluted in any way. This is a particularly important document in that it will look to ensure and promote town centre are inclusive – irrespective of age, ability or gender.

MACS have frequently met with SUSTRANS Scotland to raise concerns about the evaluation of the Spaces for People (SfP) Programme, which stated that 53% of people supported the scheme, whereas MACS understand the level of support differs from area to area.

MACS also queried this evaluation with the Office for Statistics Regulation who agreed to contact SUSTRANS Scotland directly. Future engagement will be arranged with SUSTRANS Scotland moving forward.

Motability and the Scottish Government Accessible Vehicle and Equipment Scheme (AVES)

MACS have continued to look closely at the Motability scheme over the course of this year. In particular we are concerned that the 10.1% uplift to disability benefits in 2023 will result in another windfall to Motability with disabled scheme customers losing out. As a result, we formally asked Motability and Scottish Ministers to intervene to ensure that this is rectified.

Links below point towards our published briefing on Motability and our letter to the Chairman of Motability Operations:

View Motability: a Briefing Paper on value for money by the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland

View Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland Letter to Chairman of Motability Operations

MACS have also continued our involvement in the Scottish Government AVE Scheme including assisting with the evaluation of potential new delivery partners alongside monitoring and evaluation. More information on this can be found in section 5 under our Planning and Strategy highlights.

Transport to Health and Social Care, including the NHS Recovery Plan commitments in Programme for Government.

MACS have been somewhat frustrated at the slow progress on this area of work and therefore it remains as one of the areas at the forefront of our thinking and work as we move forward. Over the past year we have had meetings with Scottish Government Health Directorate and Transport Scotland officials, including one with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care which has appeared to finally have us moving in a more positive and productive direction.

At the meeting with the Cabinet Secretary, we were assured that this work will be taken forward and MACS would be included closely to help shape the workplan for driving much needed change. More information on this area of work can be found later in this report including section 6 covering Ministerial Engagement and section 7, which includes information on our other key activities.

We hope to give a more favourable update in the coming year on further progress as this piece of work develops.

Demand-Responsive Transport, including highlighting inequalities with the National Entitlement Card (concessionary travel) and taxi schemes (linked to tackling inequalities and reducing the mobility gap).

Under this area of work Committee members have been in continual dialogue with officials from the Future Transport Unit in relation to Fair Fares Review initiative. MACS recognises the importance of this piece of work so are pleased to have been given the opportunity to feed in our comments. In August, we attended a meeting which briefed us on the review. You can read our position on this further in the report under Section 7, which covers key areas of work.

MACS also held a development day focused on Taxis, covered later in this report, which looked at lived experience and the range of transport options in relation to Taxi services and providers.

The Connected Scotland Strategy and advocating the role of Available, Accessible and Affordable public transport provision to enable human rights, keep people and communities connected and reduce social isolation and loneliness.

The triple A, Available, Accessible and Affordable, remains at the forefront of the vast majority of the work we do as a Committee. In particular we see transport as a key enabler of progressing equality and human rights. We held an extremely beneficial session focusing on this which included input from members of the Committee and representatives from Human Rights Commissions in Scotland and the UK.

More information on this session can be found in Section 9, which covers our Development day. This session was particularly useful in understanding other organisations roles and where we as a Committee can feed in and work together
to promote the critical role transport plays as an important enabler of human rights.

The National Islands Plan and Islands Connectivity Plan.

MACS attended meetings of stakeholders of the Island Connectivity Plan. Firstly, it is noteworthy that MACS is seen as a stakeholder, and we feel privileged to be involved in such a key development. The Plan will replace the current Ferries Plan but will have a wider scope. The plan will include a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and will determine the islands connectivity for the next 25 years. At these meetings we considered the responses to recent consultations including looking at issues which need to be developed further. These include transport connections on either side of a ferry journey, community contracts, and future methodology for consultation exercises.

Work on the Island Connectivity Plan is progressing and as a stakeholder MACS has been invited to comment on the Draft Long Term Plan for Vessels and Ports. This extensive document includes references to accessibility and inclusion.

MACS also joined the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group (CPG), which looks at Rural Affairs. The CPG has taken as its theme this year 'doing more for less', and one of the meetings looked at initiatives where the community have led on the development of a project.

Our rural and island communities face the unique challenges of an aging population, a shortage of affordable housing, an absent population where the property is a second home which is visited once a year and poor or no public transport links. The speakers talked about an initiative on Tiree as an alternative to Airbnb, Warm Hubs which are centres for local communities to socialise, grass route planning, net zero agriculture and sustainable agriculture. Whilst not specifically covering transport, all the speakers sited poor transport links as one of their project's key drivers.

We also joined the Scottish Parliament CPG on Disability having led the session on transport, this year's other focus included discussing the proposal for a Disabled Persons Commissioner, travelling with assistance dogs and empowering communities to design places and spaces that work for them and meet their needs.

Objective Two

To work across Cabinet and Ministerial portfolios to ensure the need for an accessible transport system is recognised and cited as an enabler.

Under this objective MACS looked to identify relevant Ministers to inform, advise and gain commitment from alongside working closely with colleagues from Transport Scotland to develop inclusive policies, strategies and plans. Given the close links between Objective Two and Objective One, there was a natural progress of both objectives from various Ministerial engagements and wider engagements with TS policy teams.

In terms of Ministerial engagement MACS continues to have a good relationship with Scottish Ministers across the wide range of portfolios and, through our advisory role, we have been able to raise awareness and push for more progress on issues in relation to the travel needs of disabled people. There is a 'Ministerial Engagement' section within this report (section 6), which gives more detail on who we met and what was discussed and agreed to help improve the travel and journey experiences of disabled people.

Our key message in these meetings has continued to be centred around transport being an enabler of human rights and that it is critical to keeping people connected to ensure everyone has equal opportunities and no one is left behind. This is underlined by MACS's Triple A check, that transport is Available, Accessible and Affordable for all.

Examples of other work based around Objective Two:

MACS attended a meeting with the Project Officer from the Transport Scotland Ferries Unit and the Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited technical designer to discuss accessible features on the new Small Vessel replacement programme. From the discussion, it was clear that they are trying to be fully inclusive for disabled ferry passengers, even to the extent of having a stair lift up an external staircase onto the sundeck of the ferry, which was welcome and refreshing.

MACS also hosted a discussion about the proposed Disabled Person's Commissioner. Jeremy Balfour, MSP attended to set the context. MACS are in full agreement with the premise that disabled people have faced heightened inequalities, in all respects since the pandemic.

It's clear to the committee not enough is being done and this needs to be addressed.

A new Disabled Person's Commissioner needs to have suitable powers and levers to effect change. They must work with organisations like MACS, Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs) and disabled people themselves to ensure their work is informed by lived experience.

Human rights must underpin the work of the Disabled Person's Commissioner ensuring effective working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) to support this approach.

Objective Three

To ensure that the Scottish Government makes it clear that public bodies and local authorities have a duty to respect the legislation regulating improvements of the accessibility of public transport service provision and the surrounding infrastructures.

MACS continued to hold the Scottish Government to account, as an exemplar, in mainstreaming EqIAs in their own work and enforcing the important nature of including this in any grant funding. We engaged with local authorities, public bodies and transport service providers to advocate compliance with their PSED, including the Fairer Scotland Duty (FSD) and the need to conduct meaningful EqIAs before any services designs, changes, developments or withdrawals.

In general progressing Objective Three remains central to MACS engagements. Our key message during discussions with TS and wider stakeholder groups remains the need for public bodies and local authorities to respect the legislation regulating improvements to accessibility and inclusion as this lies at the heart of a just transition.

MACS continue to strongly advocate the effectiveness of early and meaningful EqIAs as part of the impact assessment process. This must be grounded on the values gained through engagement with people with lived experience and listening to/responding to their needs and concerns to collaborate and coproduce plans and projects.

Example:

The Bus Workstream members met with the lead from Transport Scotland who is managing the Bus Partnership Fund. The Bus Partnership Fund is a £500 million fund from Transport Scotland to look at investing in bus priority infrastructure, to reduce the negative impacts of congestion on bus services. There are currently 11 partnerships being formed throughout the Country. MACS emphasised the requirement for meaningful consultation with groups and ensuring that EqIAs are being conducted throughout the process. It was agreed that Transport Scotland would attend a subsequent Bus Workstream Meeting to provide a further update on the Fund.

We will continue to advocate this approach to identify, mitigate and manage any negative impacts or consequences to disabled people of any changes and/or service developments.

Example:

The Ferries and Aviation Workstream members were invited by TS Ferries Team to participate and give feedback on the best way to approach the EqIA process that would drive the Islands Connectivity Plan. This early engagement resulted in a bespoke engagement process to ensure islander's voices came through in the EqIAs rather than defaulting to a "desktop" assessment being undertaken, more than likely by someone who did not identify as having a protected characteristic.

Objective Four

To advocate for engagement with MACS when developing or revising policy, plans or contracts by officials to gain expert advice and ensure accessibility is given a priority consideration. This includes using procurement and franchise opportunities when awarding contracts to promote accessibility in transport provisions.

Under this objective MACS continued to seek policy opportunities to give expert advice to ensure accessibility was front and centre to improve transport accessibility and design more inclusive infrastructures. MACS looked to work constructively with officials and wider stakeholder groups to design inclusive plans, which would form the frameworks for future developments such as the NTS2, STPR2, Islands Delivery Plan and Islands Connectivity Plan to name a few.

Example:

MACS were representative on the Island Plan Delivery Board, where we advised and discussed how forthcoming financial opportunities/investments could ensure they meet the PSED, have meaningful EqIAs and ensure lived experience and the needs of people sharing protected characteristics was captured in the submissions for funding and the assessment of the funding applications. This was an interesting piece of work in terms of talking to Scottish Government officials on this topic and explaining some of the challenges faced by disabled people living on our islands.

MACS was also represented on the Transport Equality Network (TEN), attending meetings where we were given an update on work that is coming forward over the next few months. This group has not met for quite a while, but it was pleasing to see that they have a robust plan of work ahead of them including the Transport Just Transition Plan, Mission Zero, NTS2 and Transport Inequalities and poverty report. Through MACS persistence a group with a similar remit to the TEN will be revitalised in 2023. More information on these reports can be found at the links below:

Example:

Our Rail Workstream Members also met with a number of designers over the past year including Cameron Bridge and Leven stations on the new Levenmouth line to assess and advise their accessibility. The Rail Workstream Members also visited the Glasgow subway depot to examine the new rolling stock due to come into service this year. The designs were a marked improvement on the existing ones, although we noted access issues remain at 13 of the 15 stations.

Of note in relation to rail, MACS was offered and accepted a seat on the National Rail Advisory Group, which will advise The Transition Team on an accessibility policy for the new Great British Railways.

The Convener attended the first Scottish Rural and Islands Transport Community (SRITC) Board meetings. The agenda included finalising the terms of reference, scope, and skills of the board, receiving an update of the developing strategic plan with a focus on the 6 Big Asks.

The full report can be viewed at the link below:

View Spotlight on Rural Islands Transport by SRITC June 2022

The report was prepared in response to the launch of the NTS2 consultation phase and contains the findings that emerged from 3 virtual workshops convened and facilitated by SRITC between March and April 2022. MACS participated in these workshops.

The full report concludes by presenting six "Big Asks" of the Scottish Government. The Board will meet formally every quarter (and ad hoc if required), which will provide the opportunity for board members to influence and advise on the work of the SRITC, which focuses on the transport needs of rural and island communities.

The Planning and Strategy Workstream Leads also met with the Chair of the Poverty and Inequality Commission to discuss how both public bodies can work together to address the Value for Money (VfM) aspects of the current Motability Scheme including what options are available to put further pressure on Motability Operations to return profits to customers and revisit the lease cost model to generate less profits (from overcharging customers).

The timeframe for this work was key to influence the need for those in receipt of Adult and Child Disability Payments, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payments to retain the Cost of Living 10.1% uplift to their disability support payments, rather than Motability Operations automatically taking this and adding further to their profits and reserves. People need this money 'in their pockets' to help with current financial pressures.

Under this umbrella, MACS also supported Scottish Government officials with the process to consider new accredited partners to deliver the Accessible Vehicle and Equipment Scheme in Scotland (AVES) alongside Motability. MACS were invited by the SG to form part of this group and with monitoring and evaluation of customer experiences.

During this year we also met with the Scottish Director for the Community Transport Association (CTA) and discussed the CTA's Sector Report that includes recommendations on transport to health, the future development of Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme (MiDAS) and the importance of ensuring those with lived experience are part of the training, the Bus Taskforce and the current issue around the reimbursement rate for volunteer driver expenses.

Objective Five

To advocate for an effective and inclusive 'just transition' in our review of the National Transport Strategy (NTS2), the Accessible Travel Framework (ATF) and supporting strategic plans and route maps. Our reviews will acknowledge progress, identify barriers and gaps and make recommendations to assist with the delivery of these commitments as we make transport more accessible and sustainable.

MACS continued its work to review and scrutinise the progress of the ATF and the NTS2 on an annual basis to help identify progress, barriers and make recommendations aimed at escalating the delivery of the commitments. MACS have always made themselves available to work closely with Transport Scotland policy areas to input to the scope and design of their work. We will continue to work across TS Policy Teams to promote that accessibility and inclusivity is at the heart of their work to reduce inequalities.

Under this objective, several members attended the Transport Scotland and Disability Equality Scotland (DES) Webinar looking at defining the next delivery plan for the remaining three years of the ATF.

This followed on from one to one meetings with the MACS Convener and the Project Lead from DES (sponsored by TS) looking at the last 6 years of the ATF, if outcomes matched expectations and discussing what the future of the framework should prioritise. The draft report is due at the end of March 2023 and a further meeting is scheduled for May, before the final report is produced.

On attending the webinar on the ATF in early Feb 2023 (hosted by Transport Scotland and DES), MACS shared their findings and feedback from engagements with the disabled community. This included voicing their frustrations at the lack of progress around ATF and the lack of direction or measures.

In terms of the ATF Annual Delivery Plan, MACS will continue to offer our assistance in terms of advice and helping structure the delivery plan to see out the final three years of the 10 year framework. We will also continue to offer our advice and scrutiny through the ATF Steering Group attended by both MACS Convener and Vice Convener.

Finally, following discussions with the TS Director of Strategy and Analysis it was agreed that the TS Team would further explore how MACS links into the work of around NTS2 and the role of the previous Transport Equalities Network including the need to resurrect a "format" of this group.

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