3. Assessment of social and equality impacts

This section provides an assessment of impacts for the combined social and equality impacts of each of the strategic policies set out within the NTS Delivery Plan 2020-2022.

The assessments below refer to each strategic policy, drawing together the impacts associated with all actions sitting under that policy for the relevant groups:

Protected Characteristic Groups

Existing evidence relating to these groups with regards to the action/policy and the negative and positive impacts for these groups:

Age (all age groups but particularly children, younger people and older people)
Disability
Gender reassignment
Pregnancy and maternity
Race (all ethnic groups)
Religion or belief (all religions and groups)
Sex
Sexual orientation

Those experiencing inequalities of income

Caused by socio-economic disadvantage, including:

People on low incomes
People living in deprived areas (and within particular communities of place and interest)
People with no/low wealth or in debt
People in material deprivation
People from different social classes
Communities of interest or communities of place, which could be more affected than others

Potential barriers

Potential direct or indirect negative impacts of each policy, including direct and indirect discrimination, and intended and unintended consequences
What might prevent the desired outcomes from being achieved?
Potential barriers e.g. issues that will need to be taken into account during consultation/engagement

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

Opportunities each policy might present for:

Advancing equality of opportunity e.g. by removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people who share a relevant protected characteristic or by reducing or further reducing inequalities of outcome, particularly due to socio-economic disadvantage, or by benefiting particular communities of interest or of place
Fostering good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it, in particular by tackling prejudice and promoting understanding
Increasing community cohesion e.g. by encouraging people who share a certain characteristic to participate in public life or in any activity in which participation by such people is disproportionately low.

The assessment and identification of potential impacts has been based on the key issues and evidence (as set out in Section 2 of this report), information provided through discussions across Scottish Government and public consultation feedback.

The scoring mechanism used for the assessment initially provides a score of the effect of the policy for each of the relevant groups as follows:

Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA)

Major Positive Effect - The policy contributes significantly to the achievement of the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Minor Positive Effect - The policy contributes to the achievement of the Public Sector Equality Duty, but not significantly.
Neutral/Negligible Effect - There is no clear relationship between the policy and the achievement of the Public Sector Equality Duty or the relationship is negligible.
Minor Negative Effect - The policy detracts from the achievement of the Public Sector Equality Duty, but not significantly
Major Negative Effect - The policy detracts significantly from the achievement of the Public Sector Equality Duty. Mitigation is therefore required
Uncertain Effect - The policy has an uncertain relationship to the Public Sector Equality Duty, or the relationship is dependent on the way in which the aspect is managed. In addition, insufficient information may be available to enable an assessment to be made and will be gathered through further consultation and/or research.

Children’s Right and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA)

Major Positive Effect - The policy makes changes recommended by the UNCRC or has the potential to advance the realisation of children's rights in Scotland.
Minor Positive Effect - The policy complies with the UNCRC requirements.
Neutral/Negligible Effect - There is no clear relationship between the policy and children's rights or their wellbeing, or the relationship is negligible.
Minor Negative Effect - The policy may impede or actually reverse the enjoyment of existing rights, requiring mitigation measures be put in place
Major Negative Effect - The policy fails to comply with UNCRC and other human rights obligations (as recognised under international treaties which apply to Scotland, including economic, social and cultural rights; employment, housing, health, education and adequate standards of living), requiring modification of the proposal; or may have a detrimental impact on children, so should be withdrawn and alternatives presented
Uncertain Effect - The policy has an uncertain relationship to UNCRC requirements. In addition, insufficient information may be available to enable an assessment to be made and will be gathered through further consultation and/or research.

Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment (FSDA)

Major Positive Effect - The policy contributes significantly reducing inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage.
Minor Positive Effect - the policy contributes to the reducing inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage, but not significantly.
Neutral/Negligible Effect - There is no clear relationship between the policy and reducing inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage, or the relationship is negligible.
Minor Negative Effect - The policy detracts from the achievement of reducing inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage, but not significantly.
Major Negative Effect - The policy detracts significantly from reducing inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage. Mitigation is therefore required.
Uncertain Effect - The policy has an uncertain relationship to the Fairer Scotland Duty, or the relationship is dependent on the way in which the aspect is managed. In addition, insufficient information may be available to enable an assessment to be made and will be gathered through further consultation and/or research.

An overall SEQIA score has also been provided for each policy. This takes into account all potential effects that have been identified for relevant groups and under each of the relevant scoring criteria for the Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA), Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) and Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment (FSDA).

3.1 Reduces Inequalities - Strategic Policies

Ensure active, public and sustainable travel access to employment, education and training locations (RI-1)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Ensuring active, public and sustainable travel access to employment, education and training locations is likely to have positive impacts across all protected characteristic groups.

(RI-1E) Some groups are more likely to rely on public transport such as young people, older people, women and people from certain ethnic minority groups (Transport Scotland 2020a). These groups are less likely to drive, obtain a driving licence or have access to a car and as such improvements in sustainable travel are likely to benefit these groups. Maintaining active travel pathways for elderly populations could benefit not only their physical mobility but also their wellbeing and independence.

Given that disabled people already qualify for free bus travel, the effect of these actions will be limited. Disabled people could, however, benefit from actions to promote accessible and free/low cost adapted bike hire. However, this would depend on the extent to which associated cycle infrastructure was available to those using adapted bikes. Socio-economically disadvantaged groups and children could benefit from reduced child poverty via free bus travel, through re-investing money previously spent on travel into extracurricular activities, such as after school clubs.

(RI-1F) Continuing engagement with those who have experience of transport inequalities, including engagement with young people on the future of transport, is likely to further increase positive impacts from this policy by tailoring future actions to the needs of these groups.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Major Positive Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible
Race – Major Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

This policy supports the Child Poverty Delivery Plan. Children and young people are likely to benefit from investment in active travel and public transport initiatives, especially where access to employment, education and training is improved. In particular, the extension of free bus travel to those under 22 will benefit those children and young people from low income households and in rural areas for whom costs of travel are a particular barrier. Specific engagement with young people through the Transport Young People and Employment Partnership is likely to further increase positive impacts through increased participation (RI-1F).

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Evidence shows that those on lower incomes are more dependent on walking and bus travel for journeys (especially for employment purposes) and that those living in the 10% most deprived areas are also more likely to use public transport. Therefore, ensuring active, public and sustainable travel access to employment, education and training locations in addition to local amenities and services is likely to have positive impacts for groups experiencing inequalities of outcome due to socio-economic disadvantage, including realising their human rights.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Ongoing costs of bike hire schemes and access to digital payments could be problematic for those on low incomes or without access to bank cards/phones.
Evidence shows that access to bikes increases with household income and household size.
Those on low incomes and older than 22 but younger than 60 are excluded from concessionary fare or reduced ticketing options.
Appropriate cycle infrastructure is needed to complement adapted bikes.
Inability to insure or secure bikes in more deprived areas with higher crime or store them depending on type of residential accommodation.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by reducing financial barriers to travel for children and young people through free travel and concessionary fares.
Increase community cohesion by increasing potential for active travel journeys to employment, education and training that are accessible to all groups.
Foster good relations by breaking down barriers to accessing bikes and bike hire schemes particularly by inclusion of adapted bikes for use by disabled people.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Consider additional support required for public transport and keep this under review in light of the uncertainty and other challenges presented by COVID-19 (RI-2)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Although no specific impacts have been identified on protected characteristic groups through the implementation of this policy, there could be some potential disproportionate or differential effects based on passenger profiles. For example, some groups are more likely to rely on public transport such as young people, older people, women and people from certain ethnic minority groups.

Some of these groups are also over-represented in key worker occupations such as medical staff and retail staff or those that work in manufacturing or food processing. As such, these groups are likely to have had a greater dependence on public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore benefited as a result of this policy to provide additional support to keep services running during this time.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Major Positive Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Major Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Young people are more likely to work in retail and other support services taking on key worker roles during the pandemic. Sustrans Hands Up Scotland Survey (2019) showed that 16% of children travel to school by bus (and children and young people may be more likely to use buses for leisure travel, given that those under 17 will not be able to drive).

Therefore, although no specific impacts have been identified on children and young people there is the potential that additional support for public transport services would have resulted in significant positive effects on children and young people during the pandemic, particularly in regards to accessing employment and education. This will have been particularly relevant to children of key workers during lockdown periods.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Those on lower incomes rely on bus travel more than other socio-economic groups, with living in the 10% most deprived areas are also more likely to use public transport than for those living in less deprived areas. Key workers are also over-represented in the lowest income deciles.

Therefore, additional support for public transport services would have potentially resulted in significant positive effects on those with low incomes and those without access to a car during the pandemic, particularly in regard to maintaining access to services such as employment, education, healthcare and leisure and ultimately accessing and realising their human rights. However, it is noted that there was a drastically reduced opportunity for in-person education and leisure during much of the pandemic.

Action RI-2D has helped to ensure that there is a minimum level of connectivity to island communities, many of which will have a lower than average income level. This will facilitate essential travel between island communities and with the mainland.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Many staff employed by transport operators have protected characteristics and/or are from socio-economically disadvantaged groups making them more vulnerable to the risk of infection from COVID-19. This group could experience both negative and positive impacts as a consequence of actions to support public transport.
Some groups are more vulnerable to the health effects of COVID-19 and as such would have reservations about undertaking public transport journeys in a safe manner during the pandemic. However, in the case of low-paid workers, they may not have had the option of home-working that was available to higher paid workers.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by minimising impact of COVID-19 restrictions on those who need to travel to work or education by public transport. This includes key workers who include young people, women and people from ethnic minority groups.
Increase community cohesion by enabling people to continue to travel to employment and education.
Foster good relations by supporting those who are most at risk of the effects of COVID-19 restrictions.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Ensure transport in Scotland is accessible for all (RI-3)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Some groups are more like to be victims of hate crime, for example, disabled people, those from certain ethnic minority groups, certain religious or belief groups and those from the LGBTQ+ community. The hate crime charter launch (RI-3A) therefore has the potential to provide positive impacts on these groups by providing greater awareness of hate crimes and improving and promoting reporting mechanisms.

Accessible transport is important for elderly people in terms of mobility, wellbeing and independence. Ensuring access to transport could enable elderly populations to lead an independent lifestyle through access to services and facilities, in addition to meeting with friends and family providing life satisfaction and happiness.

Further, it is recognised that older people might have different experiences and needs with regards technology and as such, in the case of the Thistle Assistance Card (RI-3C), although an app is being introduced it is intended that the card be retained to enable users to choose what suits them best.

The actions are expected to have a significant positive impact on disabled people, helping to ensure that they are able to access transport services easily and safely. Consultation and engagement activities associated with this policy have been inclusive of the views and needs of disabled people and conducted with steering groups with several members representing disabled people.

Information relating to associated webinars/seminars has included easy read agendas and British Sign Language (BSL) translation during events. The ScotRail passenger assistance booking (RI-3D) is open to everyone requiring support. Improvements to the scheme are likely to provide positive impacts to disabled people and those with mobility restrictions such as older people, pregnant women and people with pushchairs and/or young children.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated social distancing measures, enhanced consideration of accessibility needs for blind and partially sighted passengers are required.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Major Positive Effect
Race – Major Positive Effect
Religion – Major Positive Effect
Sexual Orientation – Major Positive Effect
Gender Reassignment – Major Positive Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Major Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

The actions under this policy will support children and young people to travel safely and easily and as such will have a significant positive effect on this group. The hate crime charter (RI-3A) steering group includes representatives from Police Scotland and British Transport Police.

Advice has been taken from these organisations to enable hate crimes to be reported easily by anyone and to include consideration of child rights. Children and young people have been and are continued to be consulted on this policy. This has been undertaken through workshops, engaging with young people’s groups and ensuring young people are represented on steering groups.

Consultation with young people has identified that ‘turn up and go’ rail booking assistance has had a positive effect on young disabled people with regards to opportunities to access rail services without the need to pre-plan journeys (RI-3D).

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

The actions included within this policy are intended to improve access to transport services for all users, this may support those in socio-economic disadvantage to access wider opportunities and human rights. However, use of technology and apps to access services may exclude some users without access to modern smart phones and as such actions seek to provide alternative options to ensure everyone will have access to services, for example retaining physical cards rather than relying on digital access.

There are higher rates of poverty and unemployment amongst disabled people and therefore where accessibility measures target buses, this is likely to be of benefit to disabled people on lower incomes more so than those on higher income ones with their own transport or able to afford taxis.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

None identified.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by supporting those who are subject to hate crime on public transport services and those who are travelling with a disability (including during the COVID-19 pandemic).
Increase community cohesion by increasing safer and more accessible travel options developed through engagement with groups with protected characteristics, children and young people.
Foster good relations by raising awareness of hate crime and supporting zero-tolerance of all forms of hate crime on public transport as well as raising awareness of accessibility issues of customers through the Thistle card.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Remove barriers to public transport connectivity and accessibility within Scotland (RI-4)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Accessibility issues whilst travelling on public transport are most likely to affect disabled people but also those with mobility restrictions such as older people, pregnant women and people with pushchairs and/or young children. Therefore, the actions contained under this policy to improve access are likely to have positive impacts on these groups in particular.

Women are more likely to have lower incomes and more complex travel needs than men and have particular suffered particularly with journeys though the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, women could benefit through further consideration of gender and transport (RI-4C).

Older and disabled people will be positive impacted by the continued operation of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme. Blue Badge improvements projects will also have a positive impact on disabled drivers who are in possession of a Blue Badge (RI-4F). Such schemes could maintain mobility, independence and wellbeing for these populations.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Major Positive Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Major Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Disabled children and young people could benefit from actions to assist travel. This includes parents and carers with pushchairs or travelling with young children.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Those on lower incomes and those living in the 10% most deprived areas are also more likely to use buses than for those on higher incomes or living in less deprived areas. Action RI-4I is likely to provide specific positive impacts to those on low incomes as part of measures to ensure travel support is included in support packages as part of the No One Left Behind Partnership.

Additionally, the continued operation of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme for older and disabled people will also provide positive impacts for those with the affordability barriers to travel. Overall, efforts to remove barriers to public transport for socio-economically disadvantaged groups would ensure they can access and realise their human rights.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

No barriers identified.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by considering gender issues with regards to connectivity of the transport network.
Increase community cohesion by identifying accessibility issues and improving accessibility for disabled people.
Foster good relations by focusing on gender and transport issues.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Minimise the connectivity and cost disadvantages faced by island communities and those in remote rural and rural areas, including safeguarding of lifeline services (RI-5)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

All travellers would benefit from improved island connectivity; however, there could be a specific additional beneficial impact for those with protected characteristics due to improved vessel and port accessibility and improved fleet resilience (RI-5C). For example, children and young people are more likely to have to travel off-island on a regular basis (daily or weekly) to access education and training.

While older people are less likely to need to travel off-island on a daily basis for work, education or training, they may have more need to travel to the mainland for, in particular, health care. Confidence in transport connectivity to access to essential healthcare can affect people’s choice to remain living on islands.

There are a number of accessibility barriers to travel for disabled people, leading to lower levels of travel amongst disabled people. New vessel and port upgrade investment would provide an opportunity to increase accessibility and improve ferry travel for this group (RI-5C).

Pregnant women and people undergoing gender reassignment would also benefit from improved access to off-island healthcare.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Major Positive Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Minor Positive Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and young people are more likely to have to travel off-island on a regular basis (daily or weekly) to access education and training and would therefore benefit from improved island connectivity.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Improved island connectivity and the improved resilience and enhanced connectivity provided for rural and remote communities may contribute towards addressing many of the structural challenges that rural and remote communities face (such as creating opportunities for progression and attracting young families and retaining skilled workers).

Disruption to travel is likely to have a disproportionate impact on lower income groups. They face challenges in absorbing the cost of missed bookings, missed work and emergency childcare and are financially excluded from alternative transport options such as flights.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Engaging effectively with island communities. Feedback from NTS workshops identified ‘engagement fatigue’ amongst islands communities and desire to be updated on decisions and rationale behind decision making.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity for those who are socio-economically disadvantaged and without access to a car in rural and island communities by minimising connectivity and cost disadvantages.
Increase community cohesion by engaging with island communities as part of the ferries stakeholder engagement strategy and developing the Islands Connectivity Plan. Create enhanced chances for education whilst removing the need to travel for children and young people living in remote communities.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Ensure that equality and a human rights approach is at the heart of all policy-making processes (RI-6)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

All protected characteristic groups would benefit from ensuring that that the effect of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) (as set out under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties (Scotland) Regulations 2012) is improved so that it becomes a key contributor to improved lives for people in Scotland with protected characteristics by ensuring that equality and human rights are at the heart of all policy-making processes.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Major Positive Effect
Disability – Major Positive Effect
Race – Major Positive Effect
Religion – Major Positive Effect
Sexual Orientation – Major Positive Effect
Gender Reassignment – Major Positive Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Major Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and young people are included under the Equality Act 2010 and therefore would benefit from ensuring that the effect of the PSED (as set out under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties (Scotland) Regulations 2012) is improved so that it becomes a key contributor to improved lives of people in Scotland with protected characteristics by ensuring that equality and human rights are at the heart of all policy-making processes.

Furthermore, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill is currently awaiting response from the Supreme Court. Once royal ascent is received there will be a statutory obligation to ensure all decisions of a strategic nature protect children’s rights.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

While this policy does not directly relate to the Fairer Scotland Duty and reducing inequalities for socio-economically disadvantaged groups, it recognises the vital role that public transport plays in ensuring people facing socio-economic disadvantage can access and realise their human rights.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

There is a need to consider and balance the requirements of different groups without creating resulting adverse effects for other groups.
Additional incorporation of the Fairer Scotland Duty would ensure that the needs of those facing socio-economic disadvantage would also be at the heart of policy-making processes.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity for all groups covered by the Equality Act 2010 due to a greater emphasis on human rights in policy making and reporting of impacts.
Increase community cohesion by encouraging policy and decision makers to consider equality issues in developing policies, projects and plans.
Foster good relations by increasing the need to consider groups with protected characteristics in policy and decision making.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Enhance the impact and accessibility of the Scottish Transport Statistics, and Transport Scotland’s Social and Economic Research publication (RI-7)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

All protected characteristic groups would benefit from improved accessibility to datasets and key publications. This increased accessibility of information has the potential to provide solid evidence for policy and decision making with regards to improving quality of life for these groups. However, this will depend on the extent to which data that is collected captures information on different protected characteristics.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Minor Positive Effect
Sexual Orientation – Minor Positive Effect
Gender Reassignment – Minor Positive Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and young people would benefit from improved accessibility to datasets and key publications. However, this would depend on how easy to use the datasets and key publications are to a child audience. This increased accessibility of information has the potential to provide solid evidence for policy and decision making with regards to improving quality of life for these groups, as well as empowering them, for instance, to make effective challenges.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Low income groups and communities of interest would see some benefit from improved accessibility to datasets and key publications. This increased accessibility to information has the potential to provide solid evidence for policy and decision making with regards to improving quality of life for these groups as well as empowering them, for instance, to make effective challenges.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Data and statistics need to be presented in a clear and transparent manner including potential for child-friendly versions of datasets and publications to be made available.
Data on some groups has traditionally been lacking (including gender reassignment and sexual orientation). Although more research and data collection on these groups has taken place over recent years there is a potential for certain groups to be excluded or not prioritised due to lack of information in comparison to other groups.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by making datasets more widely available for use by a wide range of users.
Increase community cohesion by providing data in an accessible format (on the provision that data is available in accessible formats).
Foster good relations by clearly demonstrating inequalities in society through robust evidence.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

Improve sustainable access to healthcare facilities for staff, patients and visitors (RI-8)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Older people are more likely to travel for healthcare purposes than other groups as well as those receiving regular medical care including children, disabled people, pregnant people and people undergoing gender reassignment. Given that women are the vast majority of carers with health needs, this policy is likely to have a stronger impact on women.

Improvements to patient passenger services and virtual appointments is likely to improve access to healthcare for these groups. However, the extent to which virtual appointments will benefit these groups will depend on their ability to access the internet.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Major Positive Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Major Positive Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Major Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, all children have an explicit right to achieve their developmental potential and to sustain the highest possible standard of health. They also have a right to appropriate health services to facilitate attainment of these goals.

Improved access to healthcare can be of benefit to children, particularly young children who may have more need for healthcare services. There is also an indirect positive impact on children if parents/guardians are benefitting, with action RI-8C in particular potentially having a positive impact on low income families.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Evidence shows that those in low-income groups are more likely to rely on bus travel for journeys more than other socio-economic groups and as such could benefit from a review of patient services including action RI-8C. This recognises the role of public transport in accessing and realising human rights, specifically right to health. Similarly, populations relying on walking who previously experience limited access to health care services could benefit from co-ordinated planning of patient transport.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Digital exclusion and internet connectivity for those on low incomes.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by improving access to healthcare for groups who are in greater need of community transport, public transport and sustainable travel access to healthcare facilities.
Increase community cohesion by removing barriers to access healthcare facilities.
Foster good relations by clearly demonstrating inequalities in society through robust evidence.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

3.2 Takes Climate Action – Strategic Policies

Reduce emissions generated by the transport system to mitigate climate change and improve air quality (CA-1)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Groups who are more vulnerable to transport emissions include children, older people, pregnant women and disabled people. These groups are likely to benefit from actions which result in improved air quality.

The National Speed Management Review (CA–1B) will look at casualty reduction effect in addition to motor vehicle emissions reduction and this may have differential impacts on different users on different types of roads.

For example, older people and children could benefit more from a national speed limit reduction on urban roads from 30 mph down to 20 mph while young people will benefit more from a national speed limit reduction on rural roads from 60 mph down to 50 mph.

Young drivers/riders may for example be required to reduce their speed on certain types of roads until reaching a certain age or driving experience duration but this policy will be backed up with evidence. It will be for the National Speed Management Review to determine its policy outcomes.

Speeding is an issue more for male road users. Therefore, it is expected that the National Speed Management Review impact on men more than women.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and younger people are more likely to suffer from negative effects of traffic -related emissions and long-term effects of climate change. However, the overall benefits of the actions included in this policy are likely to be negligible on these groups overall. Specific engagement with young people on climate change issues (to be considered further).

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Those from socio-economically disadvantaged groups will be more negatively affected by long term climate change impacts and could therefore benefit from actions to reduce carbon.

The policy could potentially have the effect of reducing exposure to poor air quality through action CA-1B by reducing emissions through the National Speed Management Review. It could also help to improve road safety for road users from deprived areas, who are overrepresented in road accident casualty rates. However, the extent to which this action will positively impact on socio-economically disadvantaged groups will depend on the locations where speed management reviews are undertaken and whether or not they target existing areas with high levels of deprivation, air pollution and accident rates.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Speed management measures may be difficult to implement on local authority roads.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by reducing traffic emissions and therefore improving local air quality for groups who are more vulnerable such as children, older people and disabled people. Measures to mitigate against impacts of climate change are likely to advance equality of opportunity for young people and children who are more likely to experience adverse impacts in their lifetime.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

Support management of demand to encourage more sustainable transport choices (CA-2)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Improvements to sustainable travel options will benefit those who are less likely to have access to a car such as children and young people, women, and those from certain ethnic minority groups. Reduced car travel as a result of increased sustainable travel choices could benefit groups who are more vulnerable to transport emissions, including children, older people and disabled people. A route map to achieve a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030 has now been published.

In accordance with action CA-2A, a draft EqIA and FSDA assessing the potential impacts on protected characteristic groups of achieving a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030 have been published. The key findings include positive impacts for children, the elderly, pregnant women, disabled people, ethnic minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged groups who are less likely to use a car, more vulnerable to the harmful health impacts of transport and would benefit from increased opportunities to be physically active.

Action CA-2B considers the design and layout of towns and cities. This could have a positive impact on the older people, the disabled and children if their needs are really taken into account. The concept of the local neighbourhood by offering more local amenities in order to reduce the need to travel can have significant benefits for women (who do most of the caring, shopping etc.), older people (who can be isolated otherwise) and children (especially if there are fewer cars and neighbourhoods can be reclaimed for children).

Action CA-2D considers how technology can be used to improve people’s ability to network whilst working remotely. This may exclude older people/those who are less confident with technology however this action is aimed at providing for the workplace but could provide more opportunities for disabled people to work from home.

The development of the workplace platform provides opportunities to identify under-represented groups to ensure that their views are voiced equally. There is the potential to not include gendered pronouns in the platform and to use names and preferred titles instead, potentially reducing discrimination for transgender people.

CA-2E potentially provides opportunities for people to work closer to home and may improve access to employment through the use of local work hubs. This has the potential of making work more accessible to parents and carers, positively impacting children and young people. This action may also enable disabled people to work more flexibly, however this will depend on the facilities provided for disabled people at the hubs.

Well-designed active travel infrastructure should be inclusive for all ages and abilities. New developments being more walkable and prioritising active travel will make places more inclusive for those who do not drive for example children and young people.

Wheeling sits alongside walking and cycling at the top of the sustainable travel hierarchy. However, the needs of disabled people with regards to active travel vary and therefore there may be some who are not as able to engage with active travel. Any changes to parking standards will reflect the need for blue badge spaces.

Action CA-2F supports the integration of travel modes in recognition of trip chaining being more common for women. This requires consideration of safety in the design of new infrastructure.

Encouraging the uptake of electric vehicles generates high up-front capital costs for retrofitting Community Transport vehicles for elderly and disabled passengers. This barrier is especially challenging for smaller local operators which are the backbone of the sector in Scotland.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Minor Positive Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and young people are more likely to suffer from negative effects of air quality and long term effects of climate change and as such should benefit from these actions to improve sustainable travel choices which could reduce these effects.

Action CA-2B considers the design and layout of towns and cities. This could have a positive impact children and young people if their needs are really taken into account and developed with child-friendly design and planning.

Children and young people have been consulted as part of ‘call for evidence’ and will be consulted further as part of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) engagement (CA–2F). ‘Children in Scotland’ replied to the position statement. This highlighted importance of making provision for cycle specific paths in all communities across Scotland key to increasing participation in active travel among children.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Deprived areas more likely to suffer from poor air quality and could be more negatively affected by long term climate change impacts. Low income households are less likely to have access to a car and as such increased sustainable transport choices is of particular benefit to this group.

Projects under CA-2E seek to enable people to work more locally/closer to home which may reduce travel costs and make workplaces more accessible. In addition, support for economic regeneration within high streets may reduce disadvantage.

However, the extent to which this will benefit those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds will depend on the type of jobs that can be undertaken from the creation of local hubs. Where the action is targeted only towards higher paid jobs then this might exclude socio-economically disadvantaged groups and increase inequalities.

Outcomes from CA-2D to create a workplace digital platform may also enhance opportunities to work more flexibly from home which may reduce travel costs or improve access to employment opportunities.

Providing opportunities for people to work more locally and supporting the 20-minute neighbourhoods will help reduce distances of essential journeys. This may allow for greater opportunities for low cost travel options such as walking, wheeling or cycling for these journeys (CA-2E).

Embedding sustainable transport within the planning system (CA-2F) will help support and improve access to existing public transport infrastructure and services.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Financial barriers to accessing specialist equipment that may be required to engage in active travel. Disabled people may experience different physical barriers (CA-2F).
Ethnic minority and socio-economically disadvantaged groups are currently underrepresented as cycle users (CA-2F).

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by reducing traffic emissions and therefore improving local air quality for groups who are more vulnerable such as children, older people and disabled people. This policy could further reduce inequalities by targeting actions at deprived communities.
Increase community cohesion by encouraging 20 minute neighbourhoods and place-making, cycling and walking being more likely to lead to social interaction than private car.
Foster good relations by creating a joined up and collaborative approach to placed based planning.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Facilitate a shift to more sustainable and space-efficient modes of transport for people and goods (CA-3)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Some groups are more likely to rely on public transport such as young people, older people, women and people from certain ethnic groups. Disabled adults are more likely to use the bus than non-disabled adults (11% of journeys vs 7%). These groups are less likely to drive or have to a car and as such bus priority measures are likely to create positive impacts for these groups.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Major Positive Effect
Disability – Major Positive Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and young people are more likely to benefit from bus priority measures especially where access to employment, education and training is improved. In particular, the extension of free bus travel to those under 22 and a review of concessionary travel to those under 26 will benefit those children and young people from low income households and in rural areas for whom costs of travel are a particular barrier.

Benefits associated with reducing the effects of climate change may be of greater benefit to the younger population as will have greater long-term impacts.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Evidence shows that unemployed people and those on lower incomes are more likely to travel by bus and walking. Those in the 10% most deprived areas are also more likely to use public transport and as such actions to increase road space for buses could have positive impacts on these groups. The extent to which these groups will benefit will depend on impacts on individual bus routes and the change in journey time overall.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Potential for costs of bus travel to increase or for popularity of bus services to reduce capacity on the bus network. Fares currently cannot be capped and is down to the commercial operator to dictate what is charged (unless it is a subsidised route or a Bus Service Improvement Partnership has been entered into). Further evidence is required on effects of bus priority on changes to services, fare increases and other factors.
Fleets need to ensure that suitable accessibility features are provided on any new electric or hydrogen buses.
Key issues surrounding bus uptake is related to encouraging people out of cars. There is still a social stigma associated with bus travel with many people still aspiring to owning and using a car for transport.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by increasing bus priority and therefore improving the reliability, accessibility and journey times of bus services. Also potentially reduces traffic emissions and therefore improves local air quality for groups who are more vulnerable such children, older people and disabled people.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Work with the Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce to co-design a pathway to a fully decarbonised bus fleet, and put in place solutions to any remaining hurdles (CA-4)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Groups who are more vulnerable to transport emissions include children, older people and disabled people. These groups are likely to benefit from actions which reduce transport-related carbon emissions.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and younger people are more likely to suffer from negative effects of air quality and long-term effects of climate change and as such should benefit most from these actions.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Deprived areas are more likely to suffer from poor air quality and could be more negatively affected by long term climate change impacts. Therefore, the actions included within this policy could result in positive impacts for socio-economically disadvantaged groups. However, this would depend on if the actions are targeted at deprived areas with high levels of air pollution.

The policy is expected to have an Uncertain Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

More evidence needed on potential effects of decarbonisation on different groups covered by the SEQIA.
Bus fares have the potential to increase if the financial support for fleet replacement falls short of the true cost to the operator.
Access to funding may disadvantage smaller operators or those operating small demand responsive services. These services are often utilised by rural communities or those accessing healthcare.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by reducing traffic emissions and therefore improving local air quality for groups who are more vulnerable such as children, older people and disabled people. Measures to mitigate against impacts of climate change are likely to advance equality of opportunity for young people and children who are more likely to experience adverse impacts in their lifetime.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

Decarbonise Scotland’s passenger rail services by 2035, ahead of the UK’s target of 2040 (CA-5)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

The combined approach of accelerating the development of electrification of the network to as great extent as possible and rolling out alternative traction (CA-5B) on other areas where electrification isn’t as feasible (for example, the Far North Line and far South West Scotland) represents commitment to improving air quality on public transport and potentially making rail more attractive.

The policy would be expected to improve local air quality along rail corridors and as such have the most benefit on groups who are most vulnerable to the negative effects of transport emissions. These include children, older people, disabled people and pregnant women.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Due to children being more likely to suffer from the negative effects of air quality and long term effects of climate change, it is expected that this group would benefit from the policy and actions, particularly CA-5A. However, the effects of the decarbonisation are likely to be limited to areas surrounding rail stations and corridors.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

The decarbonisation of the rail network and improving air quality will help to reduce the effects of poor air quality cause by existing emissions and contribute towards reducing the long term impacts of climate change. However, the extent to which this will affect socio-economically disadvantaged groups will depend on the changes to air quality in areas of deprivation.

The policy is expected to have an Uncertain Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

More evidence needed on potential effects of decarbonisation on different groups covered by the SEQIA.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by reducing traffic emissions and therefore improving local air quality for groups who are more vulnerable such as children, older people and disabled people. Measures to mitigate against impacts of climate change are likely to advance equality of opportunity for young people and children who are more likely to experience adverse impacts in their lifetime.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

Promote efficient and sustainable freight transport, particularly the shift from road to rail (CA-6)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

The increase in rail freight will make improvements to air quality and therefore everyone’s health. A single freight train can take up to 76 Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) off the road

Groups who are more vulnerable to transport emissions include children, older people and disabled people. These groups are likely to benefit from measures which could reduce transport-related emissions and improves local air quality.

It can be argued that this improved air quality will benefit children and young people more significantly as they would be less exposed to poor quality air throughout their lives.

There may be a negligible positive safety impact on both younger and older people as rail freight will result in fewer HGVs on the road which can reduce accidents of fear of accidents when crossing the road for example.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and young people are more likely to suffer from the negative effects of air quality and long-term effects of climate change and as such should benefit from these actions. Positive impacts are likely to be realised through increased decarbonisation/better air quality as more freight can be moved off the roads to rail.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Deprived areas are more likely to suffer from poor air quality and could be more negatively affected by long term climate change impacts. Therefore, the actions included within this policy are likely to result in positive impacts for those living in deprived areas.

Rail freight growth can provide employment opportunities. These jobs could be in the supply chain, but more recently the express logistics (parcel market) has picked up again as old electric passenger trains are converted to carry parcels. This would provide new jobs for drivers and loaders as well as in freight construction, for example of new rail freight terminals.

The £25 million fund include as part of action CA-6B is for small to medium sized rail freight projects. One project is the Timber by Rail Trial. Timber is a market Transport Scotland are trying to target. Rail timber will provide more employment opportunities for rural communities.

However, the extent to which those from socio-economically disadvantaged groups will benefit from new job creation will depend on the type of jobs available and ensuring that they are Fair Work opportunities. It will also depend on the extent to which those employed as HGV drivers are able to access new employment opportunities.

The policy is expected to have an Uncertain Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Loss of employment in the freight industry due to shift from road to rail. This could have an effect on low income groups such as HGV drivers and those that work in road-based freight hubs.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by reducing traffic emissions and therefore improving local air quality improving for groups who are more vulnerable such children, older people and disabled people. Measures to protect against these impacts of climate change are likely to advance equality of opportunity for young people and children who are more likely to experience adverse impacts in their lifetime.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

Decarbonise scheduled flights within Scotland by 2040 (CA-7)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Groups who are more vulnerable to transport emissions include children, older people and disabled people. These groups are likely to benefit from measures which reduce transport-based emissions and improve air quality.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and younger people are more likely to suffer from the negative effects of air quality and long- term effects of climate change and as such should benefit from these actions.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Deprived areas are more likely to suffer from poor air quality and those on lower income will be more negatively affected by long term climate change impacts.

More deprived areas are often located under flight paths and therefore more affected by aviation noise. Developers claim that electric aircraft will be significantly quieter, for example in the study conducted by magniX showed an electric aircraft reduced noise by an average of 20.8dBA compared to the equivalent jet fuel powered aircraft. The introduction of new electric and hydrogen powered flights may therefore reduce the impact of aviation noise on these communities (CA-7A).

While the manufacturers of low/zero emission aircraft claim that these aircraft have lower running costs than jet-fuelled aircraft, it is not clear at this stage to what extent, if any, these cost savings will be passed on to passengers.

Aircraft testing operations may help to provide skilled employment and the overall effect on local economies will be positive, potentially leading to further job creation (CA-7B). However, the extent to which this will benefit socio-economically disadvantaged groups will depend on the types of jobs and training available and ensuring that they are Fair Work opportunities.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

More evidence needed on the potential effects of decarbonisation on different groups covered by the SEQIA.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by reducing traffic emissions and therefore improving local air quality benefiting groups who are more vulnerable such children, older people and disabled people. Measures to protect against these impacts of climate change are likely to advance equality of opportunity for young people and children who are more likely to experience adverse impacts in their lifetime.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

Work towards the decarbonisation of ferry services (CA-8)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

This policy would be helping to improve local air quality around ports and ferry terminals and as such have the most benefit on groups living locally who are most vulnerable to the negative effects of transport emissions. This includes children, older people, disabled people and pregnant women.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Due to children being more likely to suffer from the negative effects of air quality and long-term effects of climate change, it is expected that this group would benefit from this policy and actions, particularly CA-8A.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

This policy will potentially help to reduce the level of exposure to harmful emissions from ferries. This could have a positive impact on deprived communities if they are located near to ferry terminals and ports.

The policy is expected to have an Uncertain Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

More evidence needed on the potential effects of decarbonisation on different groups covered by the SEQIA.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by reducing emissions and therefore improving local air quality benefiting groups who are more vulnerable such children, older people and disabled people. Measures to protect against these impacts of climate change are likely to advance equality of opportunity for young people and children who are more likely to experience adverse impacts in their lifetime.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

We will support households and businesses to make the switch to zero emission vehicles. (CA-9)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Groups who are more vulnerable to transport emissions include children, older people and disabled people. These groups are likely to benefit from actions which result in a reduction of transport-related emission and improve local air quality.

In terms of being able to access electric vehicles (EVs) low carbon transport loans are dependent on credit checks, which may mean that younger people without a credit history could be disadvantaged.

The needs of disabled users are currently being considered through providing accessible EV options. In addition, work to ensure that charging infrastructure is accessible by all users is being undertaken. This will provide equal opportunities to disabled people to purchase/use an EV.

Although the ability to access an EV does not differentiate by gender, men are more likely to drive than women and more likely to own an EV than women. Therefore, further work could be undertaken to understand how to make the use of EVs more accessible to women.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Negative Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and young people are more likely to suffer from the negative effects of air quality and long-term effects of climate change and as such should benefit from these actions to reduce transport-related emissions.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Deprived areas are more likely to suffer from poor air quality and could be more negatively affected by long term climate change impacts and poor air quality. Actions to reduce emissions could be of particular benefit to these groups.

Action CA-9A could potentially help those that cannot afford to purchase vehicles through Low Carbon Transport Loans (LCTL). However, this benefit might still be out of reach for many low income households who may struggle with loan repayments.

The inclusion of used electric vehicles as part of action CA-9A may provide greater opportunities for lower income households to purchase an EV, however obtaining this loan is dependent on a credit check eligibility which may exclude people wishing to own an EV and therefore increase inequalities.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Negative Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Charging points and infrastructure to support electric vehicles could be a challenge particularly in remote rural and island communities.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by reducing traffic emissions and therefore improving local air quality for groups who are more vulnerable such as children, older people and disabled people. Measures to mitigate against impacts of climate change are likely to advance equality of opportunity for young people and children who are more likely to experience adverse impacts in their lifetime.
Increase community cohesion by offering support to households and businesses to purchase electric vehicles.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect for reduction of transport-related emissions and a Minor Negative Effect with regards to accessing electric vehicles for young people and socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

We will support strategically coordinated investment in the charging network that enable wider energy and transport system benefits and efficiencies (CA-10)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Groups who are more vulnerable to transport emissions include children, older people and disabled people. These groups are likely to benefit from measures which improve air quality.

Men are more likely to own an electric vehicle (EV) than women therefore the actions may benefit men more than women, however the ability to access an EV does not differentiate by gender.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and young people are more likely to suffer from negative effects of air quality and long term effects of climate change and as such should benefit from these actions.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Deprived areas are more likely to suffer from poor air quality and could be more negatively affected by long term climate change impacts and poor air quality.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

None identified.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by reducing traffic emissions and therefore improving local air quality for groups who are more vulnerable to traffic-related emissions such as children, older people and disabled people. Measures to mitigate against impacts of climate change are likely to advance equality of opportunity for young people and children who are more likely to experience adverse impacts in their lifetime.
Increase community cohesion by increasing the potential for use of electric vehicles by households and businesses including by individuals and employees with protected characteristics.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect.

Ensure the transport system adapts to the projected climate change impacts (CA-11)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Climate change adaptions for the transport system could help to maintain the reliability and resilience of public transport, particularly on routes that could be subject to flooding and erosion. This would potentially provide beneficial impacts for a wide range of protected characteristic groups who are more reliant on public transport services such as older people, young people, women, disabled people and people from certain ethnic minority groups.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Climate change adaptions for the transport system could help to maintain the reliability and resilience of public transport, this could benefit children and young people especially where access to employment, education and training is maintained.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Evidence shows that unemployed people and those on lower incomes use public transport more often. Those in the 10% most deprived areas are also more likely to use public transport. Climate change adaptions for the transport system could help to maintain the reliability and resilience of public transport.

In addition, establishing adaption measures at vulnerable locations will help to ensure the transport network can continue to operate, including for deprived coastal areas and urban areas that more prone to flooding.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

More evidence required on who might be most affected by climate change impacts and the effect of potential adaptions.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by developing measures to mitigate against the impacts of climate change. This will especially benefit young people and children who are more likely to experience adverse impacts in their lifetime.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

Improve the quality and availability of information to enable all to make more sustainable transport choices (CA-12)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

The provision of easier to use information and software systems could provide benefits for those accessing services by sustainable transport, including employment, education, health facilities and other transport services which are important to many groups with protected characteristics. However, should information rely on access by smart phones then it is likely to exclude certain groups without access to this technology or bank accounts/smart payments.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

The provision of easier to use information and software systems could help with planning sustainable transport journeys including those to education and employment. However, should information rely on access by smart phones then it is likely to exclude some children and young people without access to this technology or bank accounts.

There is an even bigger risk that it could disadvantage rural children and young people or disabled children and young people more. The risk could be mitigated by engaging children and young people on the potential negative impacts & suggestions for mitigation. CA-12D helps to provide a positive impact and a potential mitigation to the above risk.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

The provision of easier to use information and software systems could provide benefits for those accessing services by sustainable transport, including employment, education, health facilities and other transport services. However, should information rely on access by smart phones then it is likely to exclude certain groups without access to this technology or bank accounts.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Should access to information rely on smart phones then it is likely to exclude certain groups without access to this technology or bank accounts.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by providing more information on public transport ticketing, timetables and seat availability.
Increase community cohesion by creating accessible software that can be used by users who would not usually use digital platforms to receive information or buy tickets.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect.

3.3 Helps Deliver Inclusive Economic Growth – Strategic Policies

Review train services to better align capacity with demand following the disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak (EG-1)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Young people, older people, women and certain ethnic minority groups are more likely to rely on public transport. This is due to these groups being less likely to drive or own a car. Therefore, actions like EG-1E are anticipated to benefit those who need to use rail services to access work, education and leisure opportunities.

Evidence from engagement suggests that the development of fare initiatives as part of EG-1B can make rail services more attractive, thereby attracting use and growing revenue.

Furthermore, the focus on developing a stronger railway as part of EG-1E is proposed to be more affordable and efficient; thereby, accounting for the different needs of different age groups.

Despite not specifically tackling sexual discrimination, engagement comments have noted that the action will apply to all current and potential rail passengers regardless of orientation.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

This policy supports the Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2018-2022. For example, young people are more likely to benefit from a review of train services, especially where access to employment, education and training is maintained. Potential negative impacts should be mitigated by engaging children and young people before stopping any services.

As such, and in line with the Children and Young People Act, actions should align with principles of meeting the best needs of a child and ensuring their right to survival and life development.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

The Scottish Households Survey 2019 shows that those on lower incomes use public transport more often for journeys. Those living in the 10% most deprived areas are also more likely to use public transport than for those living in less deprived areas.

Therefore, the review of fares and revision of service patterns (EG-1A) could make it easier for those on low incomes to travel by train; through which, reducing inequalities and social exclusion with people using rail services who perhaps, currently, view rail as too expensive.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

More information is required on the activities undertaken by the Rail Recovery Task force and the impact that COVID-19 has had on rail passenger services in Scotland, particularly with regards to protected characteristics groups.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by maintaining rail services for those who rely on them most for employment and other journeys.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

Undertake measures to improve the resilience of the rail network (EG-2)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Evidence from the 2019 Scottish Household Survey has suggested that young people, older people, woman and certain ethnic groups as well as vulnerable people are more likely to rely on public transport. This is as result of said groups being less likely to drive or own a car therefore actions like EG-2B are anticipated to benefit those who need to use rail services to access work, education and leisure opportunities.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Major Positive Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Uncertain Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Young people are more likely to benefit from improved resilience of the rail network and the knock-on impacts of this leading to more reliable services which aid accessibility to employment, education and training.

As such, and in line with the Children and Young People Impact, actions should align with principles of meeting the best needs of a child and ensuring their right to survival and life development.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

The delivery of more efficient and reliable services between key locations in Scotland (EG-2C) could make it easier for those on low incomes to travel by train; through which, reducing inequalities and social exclusion with people using rail services who perhaps, currently, view rail as too expensive.

However, this would depend on the extent to which rail stations and services would service those in low income areas and connect to places of employment and other key services.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

EG-2C could potentially disadvantage children and young people and those facing socio-economic disadvantage in other areas and as such more national measures to improve accessibility could be more beneficial for increasing child rights.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by improving resilience of rail services for those from disadvantaged groups who rely on them most for employment and other journeys.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Undertake measures to improve the resilience of the road network (EG-3)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

These improvements can be a potential benefit to those who depend more on public transport or walking and cycling to access key services such as women, older people, young people and people from certain ethnic minority groups.

The potential impacts of road schemes will vary depending on the type of scheme being implemented, the location of the scheme and its impact on the use of public transport and pedestrian and cycle routes. As a Major Project emerging from the NTS, impacts to various social and economic groups are managed through scheme development, using impact assessment tools to inform decision making.

Consultation tools are tailored to specific local needs in order to ensure good baseline information and balanced decision making. For the purposes of the strategic assessment being undertaken as part of NTS, the potential for impacts is recognised but also that the appropriate Scheme specific decision making framework will be employed to manage those impacts.

Direct design and assessment of the accessibility of the infrastructure Transport Scotland creates, is undertaken in line with the standards set out in “Roads for All”.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Uncertain Effect
Sex – Uncertain Effect
Disability – Uncertain Effect
Race – Uncertain Effect
Religion – Uncertain Effect
Sexual Orientation – Uncertain Effect
Gender Reassignment – Uncertain Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Uncertain Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

In general, the purpose of the schemes is to improve accessibility by car and bus and to make travel by these modes safer. Local and regional active travel facilities are also considered in the process and improvements to safety and amenity of routes are included in the Schemes. These improvements can be a potential benefit young people and children providing them with safe access to key services such as education.

Significant schools engagement on scheme development and decision making is undertaken. Scheme details are only specifically consulted upon within schools on teachers request that so as not be seen to be unduly influencing pupils views.

The policy is expected to have an Uncertain Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

In general, the purpose of the schemes is to improve accessibility by car and bus and to make travel by these modes safer. There is strong relationship between deprivation and pedestrian casualties and a significant causal relationship between increased motorised transport and increased road casualties and deaths: people from deprived neighbourhoods are more likely to be injured or killed as road users.

Therefore, increasing the safety of roads could have a positive impact on socio-economically groups. However, this will depend on the measures put in place and the location of the scheme.

Local and regional active travel facilities are also considered in the process and improvements to safety and amenity of routes are included in the schemes. These improvements can be a potential benefit to those on low incomes and those without access to a car who rely on bus or walking and to access key services.

The potential for increased accessibility to facilities, jobs and services for low income households and those living in deprived areas is assessed as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.

The policy is expected to have an Uncertain Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Some groups can be under-represented in consultation activities on road schemes. General consultation on Scheme detail has been undertaken and a greater range of engagement tools and platform are now being deployed to capture a wider demographic Engagement activities undertaken meets the Scottish Government standards for general accessibility and bespoke engagement tools to assist various individuals, for example, the creation of hi-visibility materials or tactile models for the visually impaired. Scheme development consultation has been promoted widely at the national and the local level for example in newspapers and in local amenities and shops to capture a wide audience.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by improving safety and accessibility of public transport, walking and cycling routes on the trunk road network enabling those without access to a car to travel to key services and destinations.
Increase community cohesion by undertaking inclusive engagement during the development of the schemes with a wide audience.
Foster good relations by delivering road schemes that make improvements for all users.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have an Uncertain Effect.

Hold Abellio ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper franchise holders as well as Network Rail to account in meeting our challenging, but achievable performance targets (EG-4)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Although no specific impacts have been identified on protected characteristic groups through the implementation of this action there could be some potential disproportionate or differential effects based on passenger profiles.

For example, some groups are more likely to rely on public transport such as young people, older people, women and people from certain ethnic groups. Some of these groups are also over-represented in key worker occupations such medical staff and retail staff or those that work in manufacturing or food processing.

As such, these groups are likely to have had a greater dependence on public transport during the pandemic and therefore received positive effects as a result of this policy to provide additional support to keep rail services running during this time.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Major Positive Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Major Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Young people are more likely to work in retail and other support services taking on key worker roles during the pandemic. Therefore, although no specific impacts have been identified on children and young people there is the potential that additional support for rail services could have resulted in significant positive effects on young people during the pandemic, particularly in regards to accessing employment and education.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Those on lower incomes use public transport more often for journeys. Those living in the 10% most deprived areas are also more likely to use public transport than for those living in less deprived areas. Key workers are also overrepresented in the lowest income deciles.

Therefore, there is the potential that additional support for rail services would have resulted in significant positive effects on those with low incomes and those without access to a car during the pandemic, particularly in regards to maintaining access to services such as employment, education, healthcare and leisure.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Many staff employed by transport operators belong to protected characteristic groups who are vulnerable to the impacts and as such could experience negative and positive impacts as a consequence of actions to support public transport.
Some groups are more vulnerable to the health effects of COVID-19 and as such would have reservations about undertaking public transport journeys in a safe manner during the pandemic.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by supporting key workers from protected characteristic groups to travel to employment and make other journeys during the COVID-19 pandemic by rail.
Increase community cohesion by enabling people to continue to travel to employment and education.
Foster good relations by supporting those who are most at risk of the effects of COVID-19 restrictions.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

Assist Scottish Canals to ensure resilience in their transition from a public corporation to a non-departmental public body (EG-5)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Actions under this strategic policy are unlikely to impact any of these groups either positively or negatively.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Unlikely to impact children and young people significantly.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Where canals travel through areas of deprivation action EG-5C could potentially ensure the canal network will continue to be enjoyed by users for active travel benefits and increased wellbeing. This could secure or increase access to green space for those facing inequalities in opportunity for recreation in areas of multiple deprivation.

The policy is expected to have an Uncertain Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

None identified.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

None identified.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect.

Increase the use of asset management across the transport system (EG-6)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

This policy will provide resilience for the transport network helping to maintain, strengthen and replace structures that will be for the benefit of all, including groups with protected characteristics. This is particularly the case where asset management of transport infrastructure could support communities where groups with protected characteristics are disproportionately higher.

For example, many rural and island communities have an above average ageing demographic. New vessel and port upgrade investment (EG-6F) could provide positive impacts for this groups by improving accessibility to healthcare, leisure and other opportunities for older people.

There is potential for construction works associated with asset maintenance to result in differential negative effects on groups with mobility restrictions. This is mitigated through inclusive engagement and consultation to inform about timescales, restrictions and diversion. Engagement includes social media, radio adverts, internet and local letter drops and newsletters to cater for all age groups, accessibility requirements and language requirements.

Construction works associated with asset maintenance could have a differential adverse effect on groups with mobility restrictions and those who are more vulnerable to noise and air quality effects. Construction management and environmental management plans can help to minimise such impacts.

There are also positive impacts resulting though construction related employment opportunities. Procurement practices associated with the schemes include contractual requirements to deliver increase opportunities for SMEs, apprenticeships, community benefits and to ensure inclusive recruitment. This is a benefit for those who may be under-represented in the workforce or are more likely to experience discrimination.

Community Rail Partnerships bring the community closer to the railway and are run by local people who are best placed to understand the requirements of local people (EG-6H).

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Minor Positive Effect
Sexual Orientation – Minor Positive Effect
Gender Reassignment – Minor Positive Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

The actions under this policy will provide resilience for the transport network helping to maintain, strengthen and replace structures that will be for the benefit of all, including children and young people. For example, children and young people are more likely to have to travel on a regular basis to access education and training including using the road network by car, public transport, walking or cycling or via the ferry network. Improvements to infrastructure for these modes can provide positive impacts for children and young people by increasing the reliability, safety and accessibility of their journeys.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

The actions under this policy will provide resilience for the transport network helping to maintain, strengthen and replace structures.

Improvement in island transport connectivity as a result of action EG-6F is likely to benefit all socio-economic groups living or working on islands. However, in general, higher income groups may benefit more from investment in ferries as they are more likely to travel more often. However, disruption to travel is likely to have a disproportionate impact on lower income groups who are less able to absorb the financial cost of missed bookings, missed work, emergency childcare etc. and also have much lower ability to take advantage of alternative options such as flights.

Action EG-6G involves creating space for local enterprises or communities from redundant or underused railway land or buildings and as such could be used by organisations representing or providing services for communities of interest or those experiencing inequalities of income as a result of socio-economic disadvantage. The extent to which this likely to be a benefit is uncertain until more detail around the use of space is provided.

The policy is expected to have an Uncertain Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

It may not always be possible to remove all barriers to accessibility for disabled people and those with mobility restrictions for remediating existing structures (e.g. replacing stairs on footbridges with more accessible measures) due to land, space, budget, value for money constraints but they are always considered in the design and development of schemes. With new schemes we design to the latest accessibility standards.
There are a number of barriers to travel for disabled people on ferry services, leading to lower levels of travel amongst this group. New vessel and port upgrade investment provides an opportunity to improve accessibility.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by maintaining resilience of the transport network through asset management enabling continued access to employment, education and other services.
Increase community cohesion by identifying and promoting opportunities for station adoption and community rail partnerships potentially increasing the resilience and reliability of rail lines in rural areas and promoting volunteering opportunities.
Fostering good relations by creating space for local enterprises or communities to use redundant or underused railway land or buildings.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive/Neutral Effect.

Provide a transport system which enables businesses to be competitive domestically, within the UK and internationally (EG-7)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

This policy could potentially create new economic opportunities for local business and potentially increase employment. COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in unemployment rates with young people aged 16-24 and certain ethnic groups disproportionately affected.

There may also be a positive safety impact on both younger and older people as an increase in rail freight will result in less Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) on the road which improve road safety for these vulnerable groups.

However, impacts will be dependent on what activities are undertaken to support the action itself.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

This policy is aimed placing the railway as an enabler to promote and enhance the economic well-being of the area or town. The policy would potentially create new economic opportunities for local business and potentially increase employment. COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in unemployment rates with young people aged 16-24 and certain ethnic groups disproportionately affected.

There may also be a positive safety impact on children and young people as rail freight will result in less HGVs on the road which could indirectly improve road safety for these vulnerable groups.

Additionally, the increase in rail freight will make significant improvements to air quality and therefore everyone’s health. A single freight train can take up to 76 HGVs off the road. It can be argued that this improved air quality will benefit younger people more as they are proportionately less exposed to poor quality air throughout their lives. However, impacts will be dependent on what activities are undertaken to support the action itself and the indirect impacts caused by increased industry along freight lines, for example, on local air quality impacts.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

This action would potentially create new economic opportunities for local business and potentially increase employment. COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in unemployment rates with young people aged 16-24 disproportionately affected. Those who are unemployed and those on low incomes could benefit from increased employment created through tourism, freight or other markets. However, this would only be beneficial to inequalities if those experiencing poverty can equitably access newly created good jobs.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Tourism related job opportunities could be seasonal and as such create temporary jobs with no guarantee of long term employment.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by creating employment opportunities in areas where jobs such as rural areas and islands.
Increase community cohesion by increasing employment opportunities for those are over-represented in unemployment figures, particularly those aged 16-24 who have suffered disproportionately as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fostering good relations by increasing the potential for young people to remain living in rural areas by creating local jobs.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive/Neutral Effect.

Identify opportunities to ensure gateways to and from international markets are resilient and integrated into the wider transport networks to encourage people to live, study, visit and invest in Scotland to help our economic recovery (EG-8)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

This policy would potentially create new economic opportunities for local business and potentially increase employment. COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in unemployment rates with young people aged 16-24 and certain ethnic groups disproportionately affected.

The policy is aimed at working in partnership with the rail industry to identify opportunities to improve West Highland Line rail services, enhance the passenger experience and better integrate rail services. The recent launch of the West Highland Explorer is one such initiative.

Any service enhancements or integration options identified and initiated are open to all who choose to avail themselves of the service. However, impacts will be dependent on the specific initiative (EG-8A).

The consultation will be used to inform the development of an aviation strategy, therefore the consultation itself will have a neutral impact. An assessment of the impact of the Aviation Strategy will only be possible once the actions to be included in this have been decided, which will be done after the consultation process has concluded (EG-8E).

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

The implementation of the actions under this Strategic Policy will contribute to increasing educational accessibility and international connectivity. This could make Scotland a more attractive place to live and study, bringing economic opportunities that will specifically benefit young people.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

This policy would potentially create new economic opportunities for local business and potentially increase employment. COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in unemployment rates. Those who are unemployed and those on low incomes could benefit from increased employment created through tourism, freight or other markets.

The consultation process will not have any impact as long as socio-economically disadvantaged groups people are kept in mind and consulted during the process. The consultation will be used to inform the development of an Aviation Strategy and will include actions considering the needs of different groups including those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds (EG-8E).

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Tourism related jobs opportunities could be seasonal and as such create temporary jobs with no guarantee of long term employment.
After COVID-19 there is a need to ensure safety and security. We have seen how travel can be both a positive but also at times a negative for communities and it is key to see the bigger picture.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance quality of opportunity by creating employment opportunities in areas where jobs such as rural areas and islands.
Increase community cohesion by increasing employment opportunities for those who are over-represented in unemployment figures, particularly those aged 16-24 who have suffered disproportionately as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foster good relations by increasing the potential for young people to remain living in rural areas and island communities by creating local jobs.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive/Neutral Effect.

Prepare for the transport implications of the UK's withdrawal from the EU and any future constitutional changes (EG-9)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Due to the high level nature of the actions and the policies and plans associated with it, the impacts of the actions and outcomes are unlikely to have any disproportionate or differential effects on different groups.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Due to high level nature of the actions and the policies and plans associated with it, the impacts of the actions and outcomes are unlikely to have any disproportionate or differential effects on children and young people.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

In the development of the plans in action EG-9A, consideration was given to communities of social-economic disadvantage particularly remote and island communities.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Due to high level nature of the actions and the policies and plans associated with it, the impacts of the actions and outcomes are unlikely to have any disproportionate or differential effects on different groups.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

Due to high level nature of the actions and the policies and plans associated with it, the impacts of the actions and outcomes are unlikely to have any disproportionate or differential effects on different groups.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect.

Support Scotland to become a market leader in the development and early adoption of beneficial transport innovation (EG-10)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

It is not considered that this overall policy would have any direct impact on groups with protected characteristics. However, the early adoption of beneficial transport innovation with regards to zero emission technology and vehicles could have indirect beneficial impacts for groups who are more vulnerable to transport emissions including children, older people and disabled people.

Work is currently being undertaken through action EG-10I to design charging points for electric vehicles (EVs) which will be suitable for disabled users.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

It is not considered that this action would have any direct impact on children and young people. However, the early adoption of beneficial transport innovation with regards to zero emission technology and vehicles could have beneficial impacts for groups who are more vulnerable to transport emissions including children. Young people might also be able to benefit from education and employment opportunities associated with the development of beneficial transport innovation.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

It is not considered that this action would have any direct impact on socio-economically disadvantaged groups. However, the early adoption of beneficial transport innovation with regards to zero emission technology and vehicles could have beneficial impacts for those living in deprived areas who are more likely to experience poor air quality as a result of traffic related emissions.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

A project under this action EG-10I seeks to address any potential barriers that are faced by disabled users. Identified barrier in addition to the EV charging points include kerb height and space adjacent to EV bays as disabled bays are provided with additional buffer width between spaces.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by development and early adoption of beneficial transport innovation which will help to improve air quality and potentially reduce the impacts of climate change. This will especially benefit young people and children who are more likely to experience adverse impacts in their lifetime.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect.

Meet the changing employment and skills demands of the transport industry and upskill workers (EG-11)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Action (EG-11C) would potentially create new economic opportunities for local business and potentially increase employment. COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in unemployment rates with young people aged 16-24 and certain ethnic groups disproportionately affected. Young people have been taken into account in this action with the aim of encouraging more young people to work in the future transport sector.

However, Transport Scotland do not directly have initiatives to encourage young people but contribute to action plans which are led by Skills Development Scotland with funding from the Scottish Government.

Actions to increase skills in the development of zero emission vehicles may be more targeted at young people through college courses however these will be open and available to all age grouping through provision of day and evening classes. There could potentially be a gender imbalance in the uptake of courses, however this gap would be addressed by the colleges and Skills Development Scotland encouraging more women to consider careers in the transportation sector.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

These actions would potentially create new economic opportunities for local business and potentially increase employment. COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in unemployment rates with young people aged 16-24 disproportionately affected. Young people could benefit from the newly established Transport Young People and Employment Partnership.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

These actions would potentially create new economic opportunities for local business and potentially increase employment opportunities. COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in unemployment rates with young people aged 16-24 disproportionately affected. Those who are unemployed and those on low incomes could benefit from increased employment created through tourism, freight or other markets.

Actions will look to maximise opportunities for just transition where there is sustainable economic growth to provide high value green jobs. Seeking in engagement from key stakeholders to support just transition to reach net zero.

This policy seeks to maximise opportunities for sustainable economic growth, for example, by creating employment opportunities through introduction of manufacturing in Scotland rather than importing goods.

However, the extent to which the policy will benefit those from socio-economically disadvantaged groups is uncertain until there are clear measures to ensure that opportunities will be accessible to these groups. If they are not, then employment inequality could potentially increase.

The policy is expected to have an Uncertain Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Challenges in promoting opportunities to those most in need of employment opportunities and career development.
Potential for employment and skills opportunities to be located in cities and therefore inaccessible to those living in rural areas or islands unless migration to cities takes place.
Consider location of key training centres and employment opportunities so that opportunities can also be accessed by those living in rural and island communities.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by creating employment opportunities for young people through apprenticeships and working with partners to deliver training and skills accreditation in zero emissions technology.
Increase community cohesion by encouraging diversity and tackling occupational segregation through recruitment processes.
Fostering good relations by adding Fair Work First criteria to grants to make employment opportunities more inclusive.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive/Neutral Effect.

Integrating transport policy with wider digital investment, with digital connectivity for a green and resilient economic recovery, reducing the need to travel unsustainably, in line with the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy (EG-12)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

This policy will help provide positive impacts for all groups, especially those for those living in rural areas and island communities who would experience an increase in digital connectivity. However, whist in 2019, 88% of households in Scotland had access to internet, among older people the proportion of internet users was significantly lower than the Scottish average. Only half of those over 60 in the most deprived areas used the internet, while 83% of those over 60 in the least deprived areas did.

Mobile coverage (EG-12D) can benefit all citizens regardless of age however the benefit may correlate more accurately to mobile phone ownership levels. However, non-mobile phone owners may also benefit e.g. children accessing online learning on their parents’ devices.

Improved digital connectivity can positively impact on those who may have issues with travelling such as disabled people, pregnant women, carers and older people by providing them the ability to use the internet for essential services such as health appointments, employment, education and shopping.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Major Positive Effect
Race – Minor Positive Effect
Religion – Minor Positive Effect
Sexual Orientation – Minor Positive Effect
Gender Reassignment – Minor Positive Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Improvements in connectivity is especially likely to benefit children and young people who live in remote areas who do not have digital connectivity (or poor connectivity) currently.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Improved digital connectivity will help provide better equality opportunities for those living in rural areas and islands communities, for example, through improved access to services such as education, employment and healthcare online. Digital connectivity can help reduce the need to travel and, therefore less requirement to travel by car or public transport providing affordability benefits for those on low incomes.

The 5G Hubs (EG-12E) aim to help businesses engage with 5G and understand the potential transformation effects on their business, which in turn could have potential positive effects on local economies.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Any inequalities related to socio-economic disadvantage may be around affordability of mobile phones/services/contracts. However, affordability is out of the scope of the programme.
Any barriers would be related to any differences in digital skills (such as mobile phone use) by age.
Some Hub services (e.g. access to testbed 5G networks) may only be available at Hub locations. Consideration will be given to ensure Hub locations are accessible by disabled people (EG-12E).
Education and training needs for those who have had limited use of internet services.
Some areas will not benefit from the policy and there may be a need to identify how digital connectivity or other support can be provided within these areas.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity for those living in rural areas and island communities who would experience an increase in digital connectivity.
Increase community cohesion by increasing opportunities for those who have had limited internet connectivity to access employment, education and other services online.
Fostering good relations by enabling more services to be delivered online for different groups.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect.

3.4 Improves our Health and Wellbeing – Strategic Policies

Provide a transport system that promotes and facilitates active travel choices which help to improve people’s health and wellbeing across mainland Scotland and the Islands (HW-1)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

Most protected groups are likely to benefit from this policy, especially those who are more likely to rely on sustainable travel and less likely to drive. This includes children and young people, women, older people and people from certain ethnic minority groups.

There are benefits from the health impacts of increased physical activity. However, a lack of physical fitness can be a barrier to accessing active travel.

Some groups are more vulnerable to adverse health impacts of transport emissions, for example children, older people and disabled people. These groups indirectly benefit from an increase of active travel and decrease of motorised transport.

Accessible infrastructure for active travel and removal of pavement parking can be of particular benefit for disabled people and those with mobility restrictions, including older people, pregnant women and people with pushchairs and/or young children. The segregation of cycle routes can provide safety barriers which are especially important for children and young people, and women.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Major Positive Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Major Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Major Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Children and young people are more likely to rely on active travel modes for their journeys and are more likely to suffer from the negative effects of air quality and long-term effects of climate change. As such, this action should provide benefits for children and young people through improvements to active travel infrastructure. Enforcements to eliminate pavement parking and double parking (HW-1K) will also help to remove hazards that contribute towards pedestrian safety risk, for which children and young people are most vulnerable.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Socio-economically disadvantaged groups are more likely to rely on walking for journeys and as such will benefit from measures to improve active travel infrastructure. Enforcements to eliminate pavement parking and double parking (HW-1K) will also help to remove hazards that contribute towards road safety risk, which are particularly high in disadvantaged areas.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Challenges with enforcement of pavement parking.
Reallocation of road space could cause conflict for different users for example between cyclist and pedestrians or bus passengers, especially disabled people.
Segregated cycle routes important to increase active travel use, especially for children and young people, and women.
Affordability of bike hire schemes for those on low incomes.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by improving active travel provision which may benefit a number or protected groups, as well as being a low-cost form of transport. It also may lead to improved local air quality, especially important for groups who are more vulnerable to adverse health effects, such as children, older people and disabled people.
Increase community cohesion by increasing active travel provision and support for all.
Foster good relations by providing accessible infrastructure for active travel.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Increase safety of the transport system and meet casualty reduction targets (HW-2)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

This policy will result in Scotland’s Road Safety Strategy having a renewed focus on pedestrians and cyclists, as recommended by the newly adopted United Nations Resolution on road safety.

The Equality Impact Assessment completed for HW-2A in February 2021 identifies that some protected characteristics are particularly affected by road safety and so will benefit from this action. This includes children and young people, disability, sex, race, religion and pregnant women.

Children are disproportionately represented in pedestrian casualty rates and as such can benefit from this action. In particular, children from deprived areas and certain ethnic groups are more at risk.

Other vulnerable groups include those that may have a greater fear of road danger, including older people, disabled people and people with pushchairs and young children.

There will be targeted campaigns for certain age groups: Young people on complying with speed limit and not driving under the influence as well as road users aged 60 and over on their fitness to drive.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Minor Positive Effect
Disability – Minor Positive Effect
Race – Major Positive Effect
Religion – Minor Positive Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Minor Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

The Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment completed for HW-2A in February 2021 recognises that the action is likely to positively impact the interests of children and young people.

In 2019, 44% of all recorded pedestrian casualties were children. Children are disproportionately represented in pedestrian casualty rates and as such can benefit from this action. In particular, children from deprived areas and certain ethnic groups are more at risk.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

Pedestrian casualty rates are higher in deprived areas and as such actions to reduce accidents will benefit those living in deprived areas. Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030 contains a dedicated strategic action on ‘reducing inequalities’ that will be supported by deliverables identified in Scotland’s Road Safety Framework 1st Delivery Plan. Its success will be tracked through the Intermediate Outcome Target: the casualty rate for the most deprived 10% Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) areas is reduced to equal to the least deprived 10% SIMD areas by 2030.

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Engaging with ethnic groups for whom child pedestrian casualties are highest.

More driver assessment centres, or mobile centres, for disabled and older people are needed to provide more local services in ensuring that people have the skills and confidence to drive safely.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by increasing road safety for to those who live in areas where there is more traffic.
Increase community cohesion by creating a safer environment and encouraging more people to travel who would otherwise find fear of road danger a barrier to travel.
Foster good relations by improving driver awareness of pedestrians and cyclists.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

Implement measures that will improve perceived and actual security of Scotland’s transport system (HW-3)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

More information is needed with regards to the type of measures and types of incidents covered within these actions. However, improving the security of the transport system and speeding up recovery time of incidents or events on the transport network could help limit disruption to journeys and help maintain access to key services such employment education and healthcare. This is a benefit that can be shared by groups with protected characteristics.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

More information is needed with regards to the type of measures and types of incidents covered within these actions. However, improving the security of the transport system and speeding up recovery time of incidents or events on the transport network could help limit disruption to journeys for those from socio-economically disadvantaged groups who rely on the public transport to access employment. This is particularly relevant for those who work in sectors with less flexible working arrangements such as retail, hospitality and care work.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Potential discrimination of certain ethnic minority or religious groups as part of security operations.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

More information is needed with regards to the type of measures and types of incidents covered within these actions.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect.

Reduce the negative impacts which transport has on the safety, health and wellbeing of people (HW-4)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

An individual Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) has been carried out for the actions included under this policy as part of the legislation development for Low Emission Zones (LEZs). This identified minimal impacts on groups with protected characteristics and mitigation was developed where impacts were identified.

Those who are more vulnerable to respiratory illness or adverse health effect of air pollution such older people, some disabled people and children could benefit from cleaner air in city centre locations.

Action HW-4B could also result in adverse impacts on those who are more dependent on public transport such as women, older people, younger people and ethnic minority groups should the costs of upgrading bus fleets be passed onto the consumer.

Mobility and access for older and disabled people who may need private vehicles or to use private hire cars or taxis in order to access certain locations could be penalised by the removal of vehicles, costs associated with upgrading vehicles or pay for the costs of LEZs. However, mitigation has been developed with the Energy Saving Trust offering households, within a 20km radius of the low emission zones, up to £3,000 towards the safe disposal of non-compliant vehicles.

There may be people with hidden disabilities that are not eligible for the blue badge scheme under action HW-4D. For those who are eligible for a blue badge each time they enter a LEZ in a non-compliant vehicle they will be required to register the vehicle or be charged and will need to appeal.

This may discourage blue badge holders from entering LEZs. A specific equality impact assessment is to be carried out for this action as part of dedicated Blue Badge exemption workstream. Discussion with disability groups on developing a solution to registering Blue Badge exemption to sit alongside website for registering access to a LEZ is in progress.

Public consultations have taken place by each local authority introducing a LEZ. The implementation of LEZ strategies is the responsibility of individual Local Authorities and as such they will be responsible for undertaking scheme specific EqIAs. More Information is made available on the LEZ website: www.lowemissionzones.scot.

Action HW-4E is about improving accessibility for private hire cars and taxis. This could have a positive effect on groups with protected characteristics which rely on demand responsive services to feed into main public transport services.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Minor Positive Effect
Sex – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Disability – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Race – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Neutral/Negligible Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

Due to children being more likely to suffer from the negative effects of air pollution from traffic emissions, it is expected that this group would benefit strongly from the policy and actions, particularly HW-4C.

The policy is expected to have a Minor Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

A Fairer Scotland Duty assessment has been undertaken as part of the legislation development for LEZ which identified minimal impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups and set out relevant mitigations to mitigate against these. The following points are noted:

People from low income households who are reliant upon private vehicles be negatively impacted by the financial implications of replacing/upgrading their personal vehicles.
Decreased access to the city centre due to LEZ restricting non-compliant vehicles may result in limiting job opportunities for those in deprived areas/low-income households in areas outside of LEZ areas who currently depend on non-compliant private vehicle.

The above will be mitigated to some extent by Energy Saving Trust offering households, within a 20km radius of the low emission zones, up to £3,000 towards the safe disposal of non-compliant vehicles including ‘Travel Better’ incentives of up to £500 for household members to use on sustainable travel measures.

Cleaner air as a result of the LEZ could benefit deprived communities in close proximity to city centres.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

To reduce potential impacts on blue badge holders, there is a need to develop and implement a technology solution that recognises entry to LEZ area by blue badge holders. Impact assessment to be carried out as part of this workstream.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by providing exemption for blue badge holders to enable them to undertake their journeys.
Increase community cohesion by enabling cleaner air with potentially fewer vehicles in city centres.
Foster good relations by developing financial mitigation measures (in partnership with Energy Savings Trust) for vulnerable people and people on low incomes to dispose of non-compliant vehicles.

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect (due to mitigation and the need for local authorities to undertake scheme specific consultation and impact assessment work).

Embed the implications for transport in spatial planning and land use decision-making (HW-5)

Summary of positive and negative impacts on protected characteristic groups

An ‘infrastructure-first’ approach to development as set out in National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) will focus on inclusive sustainable transport in areas of change. New developments will be more walkable and active travel prioritised to make places more inclusive for those who do not drive.

This will benefit those who are less likely to have access to a car, such as young people, older people, women and people from certain ethnic groups (HW-5A). However, ethnic minorities’ uptake of cycling is low.

Lightly trafficked streets can also provide more opportunity for active travel which will provide health benefits though increased physical activity and also reduced traffic emissions. This will benefit children, young people, older people, women, ethnic minority groups and disabled people in particular.

Wheeling sits alongside walking and cycling at the top of the sustainable travel hierarchy. However, there will be a number of disabled people who are not able to engage with active travel. Any changes to parking standards will reflect the need for blue badge spaces.

This action will also support the integration of travel modes in recognition of trip chaining being more common for women.

The scoring for individual groups is as follows:

Age – Major Positive Effect
Sex – Major Positive Effect
Disability – Major Positive Effect
Race – Major Positive Effect
Religion – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Sexual Orientation – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Gender Reassignment – Neutral/Negligible Effect
Pregnancy/Maternity – Major Positive Effect

Summary of positive and negative impacts on children and young people

A focus on sustainable transport will benefit children and young people who are less likely to have access to a car. Active travel has health benefits though increased physical activity and also reduced traffic emissions. The NPF4 consultation will seek views from diverse groups including children and young people who tend to be less engaged in planning decisions (HW-5A).

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect on children and young people.

Summary of positive and negative impacts on socio-economically disadvantaged groups

A focus on sustainable transport will benefit those who are less likely to have access to a car, including low income households. Deprived areas in particular experience high levels of traffic-related emissions, yet car ownership rates are low.

The policy is expected to have a Neutral/Negligible Effect on socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

Potential Barriers

Potential for displacement of traffic. This could impact deprived areas neighbouring developments with a focus on sustainable transport.
A lack of physical fitness prevents a number of people from accessing active travel.
Financial barriers, new developments with these benefits may not be fully inclusive.
Active travel without personal safety considerations or cycle specific paths in all communities across Scotland may prevent widespread participation, especially among women and children.

Opportunities for PSED and Fairer Scotland Duty

This policy could:

Advance equality of opportunity by improving local air quality, which is especially important for groups who are more vulnerable to adverse health effects, such as children, older people and disabled people.
Increase community cohesion by creating developments focused on inclusive sustainable travel. This will provide accessibility benefits for those who are least likely to have access to car, as well as health benefits from active travel and reduced traffic related emissions. Cycling and walking are more likely to lead to social interaction than private car.
Foster good relations by featuring transport accessibility more prominently in the ‘Designing Streets’ refresh (HW-5D).

SEQIA Score

The policy is expected to have a Major Positive Effect.

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