Social Exclusion

One of the Department's four strategic objectives is to enhance access to jobs, services and social networks including for the most disadvantaged. We aim to tackle social exclusion through subsidies to people, providing better services and a major spending programme to improve infrastructure. We are also improving personal security, availability, accessibility and affordability which will all help to tackle social exclusion.

In July 2000 the then DETR issued its research report on the links between public transport. The Department followed this work up with a project looking at factoring the needs of socially excluded people and areas into local transport planning. This was fed into the Social Exclusion Unit's report on transport and social exclusion "Making the Connections: Final Report on Transport and Social Exclusion", which was published in February 2003. The report contains 37 cross-government policies in its strategy to improve access to jobs and services. The policies do not just involve improving transport to key services (such as healthcare, education and employment) but changing where and how these jobs and key services are delivered.

A key element of the strategy to improve access to jobs and services has been the introduction of accessibility planning in the Local Transport Planning process. Local Transport Authorities submitted accessibility planning strategies within their Local Transport Plans in March 2006. This has created a clearer responsibility locally for identifying and tackling problems around peoples' access to key services.

DfT has overall responsibility for the SEU report's implementation, monitoring progress of the strategy  and long-term policy development, and has lead a cross-departmental team of officials who are responsible for implementing their Department's policies.

Good practice examples on how the SEU report's policies have improved socially excluded people's accessibility to key services have been  disseminated within and between Departments and their partners.

DFT initiatives contributing to reducing social exclusion include:

• Providing cheaper bus fares for elderly and disabled people. (From April 2008, a national concessionary fares scheme was introduced for older and disabled people in England, to offer free off-peak travel on buses anywhere in the country).
• Targeting resources at improving transport links for socially excluded people in urban areas.
• Expanding rural transport schemes to increase accessibility to bus and community transport services.
• Enhancing the role of community transport in providing a more flexible, demand responsive public transport service.
• Encouraging access through better information on transport services.
• Reducing crime and the fear of crime wherever it occurs in the transport system.
• Introducing measures to reduce child pedestrian casualties in disadvantaged communities.
• Introducing accessibility planning as a means of helping people get to where they want to go.
• Amending regulations and issuing guidance to facilitate flexibly-routed bus services which can improve accessibility to key services.
• Encouraging new forms of bus partnerships through the publication of the Service Stability Code of Practice.
• Issuing guidance to all local highways authorities on "tackling the road safety implications of disadvantage".
• Continuing to build on the progress that has already been made following the introduction of accessibility regulations for trains, buses and coaches under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA).
• Helping disabled and older drivers to continue to use their car as a means of accessing the services they require
• Looking to encourage the number of Travel Training Schemes to help disabled people travel independently on public transport.