1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose

AECOM was commissioned by Transport Scotland (TS) to undertake a series of impact assessments on Scotland’s National Transport Strategy (NTS) Delivery Plans for 2020-2022. This includes the following:

  • Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA);
  • Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA);
  • Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment (FSDA);
  • Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA);
  • Health Inequality Impact Assessment (HIIA);
  • Business Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA); and
  • Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) (if required).

Due to similarities in baseline collection and transport issues shared by the groups covered by the EqIA, CRWIA and FSDA, a combined approach has been taken to these assessments and is covered by the term ‘combined Social and Equality Impact Assessment’ (SEQIA). This report sets out an assessment of social and equality impacts of the strategic policies within the NTS Delivery Plan 2020–22.

1.2 SEQIA process

A screening report was produced prior to a period of consultation between November 2021 and January 2022 on the SEQIA and the other impact assessments. The feedback and findings of the consultation have contributed towards completing this full SEQIA on the NTS Delivery Plan 2020-22. A separate Consultation Report has been produced to provide an overview of the consultation process and a summary of responses and feedback.

1.3 The NTS Delivery Plan 2020-2022

The NTS sets out the vision for Scotland’s transport system to 2040: “a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system, helping deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors". NTS outlines four Priorities for the transport system:

The Vision and Priorities for NTS are set out in more detail in Figure 1-2.

The first NTS Delivery Plan sets out 199 broad actions the Scottish Government (SG) is taking to deliver on its vision and priorities to the end of March 2022, taking account of the impact of COVID-19. The second Delivery Plan (for 2022-23) was published on 8 June 2022 and outlined the SG’s actions for delivering the four priorities for 2022 to 2023.

Figure 1‑2 Vision for Scotland's transport system over the next 20 years

We will have a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system, helping deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors.

  • Reduces inequalities
    • Will provide fair access to services we need
    • Will be easy to use for all
    • Will be affordable for all
  • Takes climate action
    • Will help deliver our net-zero target
    • Will adapt to the effects of climate change
    • Will enable greener, cleaner choices
  • Helps deliver inclusive economic growth
    • Will get people and goods where they need to get to
    • Will be reliable, efficient and high quality
    • Will use beneficial innovation
  • Improves health and wellbeing
  • Will be safe and secure for all
  • Will enable us to make healthy travel choices
  • Will help make our communities great places to live

The actions within the NTS Delivery Plans will contribute to achieving the SG’s National Outcomes contained within the National Performance Framework as shown in Figure 1-3.

Figure outlining Scotland's national performance framework - described at the link above this image
Figure 1 3 Scotland’s National Performance Framework

The NTS was developed through collaboration and consultation with stakeholders across Scotland.

Stakeholder engagement will focus on the future transport system in Scotland with regard to the four NTS priorities. The results of these discussions will be published by Transport Scotland for public access.

1.4 Relevant legislation

The SEQIA assesses the impacts of each of the actions within the NTS Delivery Plan 2020-22 and will help to demonstrate TS’s compliance with specific legislation to which it has a legal duty to consider in the delivery of its policies, programmes and projects. This legislation includes:

  • The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. Regulation 5 of these 2012 Regulations requires TS as a listed authority to undertake an impact assessment in relation to the needs outlined in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010, The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). Regulation 5 states that ‘a listed authority must, where and to the extent necessary to fulfil the equality duty, assess the impact of applying a proposed new or revised policy or practice against the needs mentioned in section 149(1) of the Act’.
  • The Fairer Scotland Duty (part 1 of the Equality Act 2010); and
  • Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (Section 1).

Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination both in the workplace and in wider society. It ensures that individuals with the following nine protected characteristics are not indirectly or directly discriminated against:

  • Age: This refers to persons defined by either a particular age or a range of ages;
  • Disability: A disabled person is someone who has a physical or mental impairment (lasting more than a year) that has a substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities;
  • Gender Reassignment: This refers to a person who is proposing to undergo, is undergoing, or has undergone a process for the purpose of reassigning their gender identity;
  • Marriage and Civil Partnership: Marriage can be between a man and a woman or between two people of the same sex. Civil partners must not be treated less favourably than married couples;
  • Pregnancy and Maternity: Pregnancy is the condition of being pregnant and expecting a baby. Maternity refers to the period after the birth. In the non-work context, protection against maternity discrimination is for 26 weeks after giving birth;
  • Race: Under the Equality Act 2010 race includes colour, nationality (including citizenship) and ethnic or national origins;
  • Religion or Belief: Religion means any religion and a reference to religion includes a reference to a lack of religion. Belief means any religious or philosophical belief and a reference to belief includes a reference to a lack of belief;
  • Sex: This refers to a man or to a woman, or to a group of people of the same sex; and,
  • Sexual Orientation: this means a person's sexual orientation towards persons of the same sex, persons of the opposite sex, or persons of either sex.

Section 149 of the Act sets out the PSED, to which TS is subject in carrying out all its functions, including its consideration of NTS. Those subject to the PSED must, in the exercise of their functions, have due regard to the need to:

  1. Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act;
  2. Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and,
  3. Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

The three aims of the duty apply to all protected characteristics provided for in section 149(7). Although marriage and civil partnership is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, it is not covered by the PSED and is therefore not considered as part of this SEQIA. The Equality Act 2010 explains that having due regard to the second aim involves:

  • Removing or minimising disadvantages affecting people due to their protected characteristics;
  • Taking steps to meet the needs of people with certain protected characteristics where these are different from the needs of other people; and
  • Encouraging people with certain protected characteristics to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low.

The PSED requires public bodies to take proactive measures to address inequality and help contribute to the government’s commitment to tackle disadvantage and discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and encourage good relations between all people.

Fairer Scotland Duty

Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010, the ‘Fairer Scotland Duty’, places a legal responsibility on the relevant authorities to actively consider how they can reduce inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage. TS, when making decisions of a strategic nature about how to exercise its functions, must have due regard to the desirability of exercising them in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage. This differs from the PSED under Section 149 of the Equality Act which considers only reducing inequalities of opportunity.

Public bodies may wish to publish a written assessment under the Fairer Scotland Duty, demonstrating how they have considered inequalities of outcome when making any major strategic decision.

‘The Fairer Scotland Duty - Guidance for Public Bodies’ (Scottish Government, 2021) identifies a need to consider both ‘communities of place’ and ‘communities of interest’ in terms of people who share an experience and are particularly impacted by socio-economic disadvantage.

Children and Young People (Scotland) Act (2014)

In section 1 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act (2014), Scottish Ministers have committed to keep under consideration whether there are any steps which they could take which would or might secure better or further effect in Scotland of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) requirements. Completion of CRWIAs feeds into this consideration and review process. The ‘wellbeing of children and young people’ is defined at section 96(2) of the 2014 Act. The general principles of the Act (as identified by UNICEF 2019) are:

  • Non-discrimination;
  • Best interest of the child;
  • Right to survival and life development; and,
  • Right to be heard.
  • A summary of the articles contained with the UNCRC are shown in Appendix A. The UNCRC considers a child as any human being below 18 years old, unless majority is attained earlier under the law applicable to the child. In Scotland, a minor is a person under the age of 18 in most circumstances (NSPCC, 2019).

Part 9 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act on corporate parenting is relevant to certain public bodies, including Transport Scotland. Through corporate parenting, duties were introduced for the relevant public bodies to support certain children and young people. The responsibilities of every corporate parent are:

  1. To be alert to matters which, or which might, adversely affect the wellbeing of children and young people to whom this Part applies;
  2. To assess the needs of those children and young people for services and support it provides;
  3. To promote the interests of those children and young people;
  4. To seek to provide those children and young people with opportunities to participate in activities designed to promote their wellbeing;
  5. To take such action as it considers appropriate to help those children and young people:
    • to access opportunities it provides in pursuance of paragraph (d); and,
    • to make use of services, and access support, which it provides; and,
  6. To take such other action as it considers appropriate for the purposes of improving the way in which it exercises its functions in relation to those children and young people.