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Guidance documents - Project manager

TAG Unit 2.13: Summary Guidance on Social and Distributional Impacts of Transport Interventions

April 2011

Unit 2.13 (Adobe Acrobat - 84KB)

1. Social and Distributional Impacts
   1.1 Introduction
   1.2 Background
   1.3 What are social and distributional impacts?
   1.4 What is the evidence on social and distributional impacts?
   1.5 What are the requirements for SDI appraisal?
   1.6 Overview of the SDI appraisal process
2. Further Information
3. References
4. Document Provenance
5. Annex A: Legal Obligations for Promoters

1. Social and Distributional Impacts

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 This Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) Unit provides guidance to the Technical Manager on the approach to assessing the impacts of transport interventions on different groups of people. This complements a more detailed Level 3 unit (TAG Unit 3.17) that sets out, in more detail, the approach to be taken.

1.2 Background

1.2.1 The Treasury Green Book, Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government, (HMT, 2003) recommends a rigorous analysis of how the impacts of a proposal are spread across different groups in society. It notes that, unless appraisers consider the distributional impact of a proposal, they cannot be sure the action is having the intended effect.

1.2.2 The links between transport and social exclusion are of particular importance. In 2003 the Social Exclusion Unit published a report 'Making the Connections: Final Report on Transport and Social Exclusion' (Social Exclusion Unit, February 2003), which demonstrated the ways in which poor transport connections can exacerbate social exclusion. Furthermore, it highlighted that deprived communities can often be the hardest hit by impacts of traffic such as pollution, severance and accidents.

1.2.3 The 2003 Report also demonstrated how improved transport connections can help in tackling social exclusion and improve accessibility by enabling targeted groups of people, particularly those without access to a car, to access employment opportunities and other essential services.

1.2.4 There are a number of legal obligations related to social and distributional impacts - see Annex A. In particular, the Equality Act (2010) introduces a new public sector Equality Duty to advance equality and tackle discrimination, which will enshrine in law the role of public bodies in narrowing gaps in outcomes resulting from social disadvantage. Note that this guidance does not obviate the need for a public body to comply with its legal or other responsibilities, for example, requirements for Equality Impact Assessments, nor should it be assumed that compliance with this guidance will in itself guarantee that all legal obligations will be met.

Purpose and Scope of this TAG Unit

1.2.5 This TAG Unit (and the accompanying TAG Unit 3.17) provides a framework for the analyses of accessibility and personal affordability and also provides a framework for examining the social and distributional impacts of transport interventions in relation to user benefits, noise, air quality, safety, personal security and severance.

1.2.6 This TAG Unit is therefore designed to help in understanding the impacts of transport interventions on different groups of people, including those people that are potentially vulnerable to the effects of transport.

1.2.7 It also provides guidance on the approach to be followed in assessing the distribution of impacts of transport interventions on the population as a whole. Whilst this could include disadvantaged or potentially vulnerable groups of people, it also provides a tool for assessing the balance of impacts and benefits within the wider population.

1.2.8 This TAG Unit provides an overview of the social and distributional impacts (described in Section 1.3 below) that may be particularly relevant for transport interventions. TAG Unit 3.17 provides technical advice on how to gather sufficiently robust evidence, which will then be available for a range of purposes, including business cases, impact assessments and public consultation. TAG Unit 3.17 also provides advice on how to undertake the appraisal of these impacts in a way that is proportionate to the likely scale and seriousness of the impacts.

1.2.9 This TAG Unit complements the section entitled 'The Distribution and Equity Supporting Analysis' in The Appraisal Process (TAG Unit 2.5).

1.2.10 This TAG Unit excludes road pricing interventions. The social and distributional impacts of road pricing interventions should be addressed using TAG Unit 3.12.4.

Transport Objectives, Impacts and Mitigation

1.2.11 In certain cases, it is an explicit objective of the transport intervention to tackle social exclusion problems through addressing barriers posed by accessibility, availability, affordability and acceptability of the transport network. In such cases an appraisal of how interventions will address these issues (which may form the local objectives for an intervention) will be a logical element within the appraisal.

1.2.12 For many interventions, addressing social exclusion problems may not be the core objective, but even in such cases there is likely to be a mixture of positive and negative impacts that will be experienced by different groups of people in different locations and to different magnitudes. Such impacts may be unintentional, but most interventions will involve gainers and losers and both gainers and losers need to be identified and their gains and losses assessed within appraisal.

1.2.13 It is therefore important to consider which groups experience positive and negative impacts and the scale or significance of the impacts on each group. Both positive and negative impacts need to be considered in appraisal, because decision makers need information on the types and extent of benefits (including positive impacts on vulnerable groups) which will be assessed against negative impacts. For example, a certain potentially vulnerable group could experience a number of negative impacts that are not offset by any positive impacts for that group, or low income groups in one area may experience positive impacts while those in another area experience negative impacts.

1.2.14 Early recognition of the range of potential impacts on different groups of people needs to be part of the initial appraisal process, during which options are being developed and assessed. At this stage taking appropriate action to mitigate negative impacts or to enhance positive impacts may help to develop a better intervention, which can help to enhance the case for the intervention to stakeholders and the general public, smoothing the way for delivery.

1.2.15 With greater emphasis on ensuring equality and fairness and addressing socio-economic inequalities, it is good practice to consider the impacts of transport interventions on different groups of people within society, both to enable negative impacts to be 'designed out' or mitigated and to develop interventions that deliver more positive benefits for particular groups. These impacts should be addressed prior to formal appraisal in support of a funding approval; this should ensure that potential impacts are properly addressed, with potential costs of mitigation also being taken into account.

1.2.16 This TAG Unit sets out a robust approach to the identification of issues and impacts for different groups of people, which will help both in working towards greater equality and fairness but also contribute to better safety, security and health.

1.3 What are social and distributional impacts?

1.3.1 The term 'Social and/or Distributional Impacts' (SDIs) was first introduced within transport appraisal frameworks through the Department's Guidance for the Transport Innovation Fund (TAG Unit 3.12.4), which stipulated a requirement to assess SDIs within the full appraisal of road pricing interventions.

1.3.2 Since 2006, the Department has subsequently developed its understanding of Social and/or Distributional Impacts and how to reflect them within the appraisal process.

1.3.3 'Social' impacts lend themselves to assessing the social change processes invoked by the introduction of a transport intervention. These impacts include the effects on communities such as cohesion, stability and services, people's way of life (how they live, work and play), the environment such as the quality of the air and landscape, health and well-being and personal fears and sense of security. There are points of overlap between social, economic and environmental impacts, because economic and environmental impacts can have social consequences and vice versa. Social research provides one of the toolkits, alongside economics and physical science, which can be used to measure and explain these impacts.

1.3.4 'Distributional' impacts relate to the extent to which there are differences in the impacts of interventions across different groups in society. For example, the noise impacts of an intervention will affect different groups of households, with some experiencing increases in noise, and others experiencing decreases. Impacts such as noise and air quality arising from a transport intervention tend to be geographically concentrated, for example affecting some particular residential areas, and the impacts on households will therefore depend on which households are present at the affected geographical locations. Households can be characterised in different ways, including income levels, and the distribution of impacts can therefore be assessed using alternative ways of characterising the affected groups. Other impacts may be less spatially concentrated and people affected may come from a variety of groups.

1.3.5 It is important to understand the differences between social impacts and distributional impacts. The analyst is recommended to consider the distribution of benefits and impacts (ie distributional impacts) on the different groups of people living in the area affected by the transport intervention. This is required to inform the Distribution and Equity Analysis described in The Appraisal Process (TAG Unit 2.5).

1.3.6 The analyst should also consider the implications for potentially vulnerable groups of people, drawing on the evidence described below, which will assist the analyses required to understand the contribution of the intervention to greater equality and fairness.

1.4 What is the evidence on social and distributional impacts?

1.4.1 The evidence on the social and distributional impacts of transport interventions is described in Assessing Social and Distributional Impacts in Transport Appraisal, Final Report (Atkins and MVA, March, 2010). The research demonstrated the various ways in which the transport network can impact on local communities and on different groups of people. For example:

• High levels of noise are experienced adjacent to busy transport corridors. The evidence suggests that children are vulnerable to high levels of noise, which affects their concentration when learning.
• Similarly, poor air quality is also experienced in areas adjacent to busy and congested road corridors, which often pass through deprived urban areas. Whilst it is well understood that poor air quality has serious health implications, particularly respiratory disease, there is limited evidence on the social groups that are at particular risk.
• Children and older people are at particular risk from accidents on the road network (as pedestrians), whilst young male drivers and motorcyclists are also high risk groups. There is also a clear link between pedestrian accidents and social class: children from Social Class V are five times more likely to be involved in fatal accidents than those from Social Class I.
• Certain groups of people have particular concerns about their personal security when using the transport network, including women (who value the ability to call for help if needed), younger people (who fear bullying), older people (many of whom wish to see greater control of youth behaviour) and disabled people (who often feel vulnerable to bullying and verbal abuse).
• Severance of communities by traffic and transport infrastructure is a particular problem for people without access to a car, some older people, people with disabilities, and school children, because they are often reliant on walking in the local community and in some cases have restricted mobility.
• Accessibility to services is often a particular problem for young people living in rural areas (access to further education and employment), school children (availability of school buses), some older people (physical mobility in boarding / alighting and on board the vehicle), disabled people (physical accessibility and lack of information), black and minority ethnic (BME) communities (routes to specialist shopping centres or places of worship) and carers (who have complex travel needs).
• The affordability of transport (both in terms of public transport fares and the costs of running a car) is often a problem for young people and low-income households, particularly for travel to employment and education.
• Low-income households and deprived communities often do not benefit from the transport user benefits resulting from improvements to the transport system if they are not users of the network, either because they do not have access to a car or have limited travel horizons in their use of public transport.

1.4.2 Transport appraisal is concerned with presenting the evidence on the impacts of changes in the transport network; however, some impacts are net or average impacts, which may conceal the fact that the net outcome comprises both positive and negative impacts. The decision maker will benefit from additional information on who gains and who loses and the extent of gains and losses. Particularly in the context of the requirement to reduce inequalities, decision makers must have information on where those already disadvantaged may be adversely affected. The goal of reducing inequality implies that both absolute and relative changes need to be considered, because if the least well-off groups gain but to a lesser extent than those already better off, there is an increase in the equality gap. Transport interventions should maximise positive benefits whilst minimising negative impacts, and the appraisal process is designed to assist in measuring benefits and impacts to support the decision-making process.

1.4.3 The impacts of transport interventions are experienced across different spatial areas and by different groups of people: these are distributional impacts. They can have negative impacts, which could be experienced particularly strongly by certain groups of people. Conversely, they also have the potential to bring positive benefits and help tackle the problems experienced by different groups. In some cases, there will be social impacts, in which particularly vulnerable groups experience positive or negative changes.

Taking into account changes in demographic structures and land uses

1.4.4 In some cases, there could be substantial forecast changes in the demographic structure within the area impacted by the transport intervention, due for example to particular types of new housing development. Similarly, there could be major regeneration activity in the area of the intervention which would be expected to have a substantial impact on levels of deprivation. In this case, the analyst should take expected changes in socio-economic and demographic structures into account within the SDI analysis.

1.4.5 Some changes in land uses could also be induced by the transport intervention itself; for example the development of services around a junction might improve the availability of facilities to residents of particular areas, so that a positive change in accessibility would be an indirect outcome of the transport intervention. As such, careful consideration would be needed to assess land use changes that might depend on the transport intervention.

1.5 What are the requirements for SDI appraisal?

1.5.1 An SDI appraisal requires the consideration of eight impacts for which social and distributional impacts are to be considered. TAG Unit 3.17 describes the process that should be followed to identify if the conditions are met to trigger the requirement for detailed SDI appraisal for an impact. An approach is set out to ensure that the additional appraisal work is proportionate to the scale of the issue.

1.5.2 The eight impacts (described in Appraisal (TAG Unit 3.2), are set out below, together with the justification for their inclusion in the SDI appraisal process and cross-references to other TAG units as appropriate.

Table 1 - The Eight SD Impacts

SD Impact	Why is this important?
User Benefits TAG Unit 3.5.3	People in communities suffering from the effects of high flows of traffic are often not the people who are benefiting from high levels of mobility. In some cases, these people might be living in a deprived community, who have low levels of access to a car, and are suffering from the impacts of other people's mobility but not experiencing higher levels of mobility themselves. Most transport interventions are based on generating user benefits, which are usually experienced by people located beyond the immediate location of the transport intervention. It is important to understand the distributional effects of user benefits, by area and social group. Impacts on in-work trips are experienced by businesses and not individuals and are not applicable for SDI analysis.
Noise TAG Unit 3.3.2	Whilst the evidence only currently suggests that children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of noise, high levels of noise have significant effects on people's quality of life. Changes in noise levels resulting from transport interventions will be experienced in different places and by different groups of people. It is important to understand the distributional effects of changes in noise, both improvement and deterioration.
Air Quality TAG Unit 3.3.3	Poor air quality poses a risk to health, and certain groups of people are exposed to higher levels of pollutants from the transport network because of where they live. Changes in emissions resulting from a transport intervention will be experienced in different places and by different people. It is important to understand the distributional impacts of changes in air quality, both improvement and deterioration.
Accidents TAG Unit 3.4.1	Certain groups of people are vulnerable in accidents on the transport network. There is also evidence that people living in more deprived areas are more vulnerable to accidents. Transport interventions can result in changes in patterns of accidents on the road or rail networks, with consequent changes in exposure of more vulnerable groups. It is necessary to understand the social and distributional impacts of the transport intervention in safety terms.
Personal Security TAG Unit 3.4.2	Certain groups of people tend to perceive risk more acutely when using the transport network, leading to anxiety and a potential barrier to mobility. Measures to improve actual and perceived personal security could benefit these groups for whom personal security is a particular concern. It is necessary to understand the social and distributional impacts of the transport intervention in personal security terms.
Severance TAG Unit 3.6.2	Particular groups of people have more difficulty crossing busy roads. Other transport corridors, eg railway lines, can sever walking routes, making journeys impossible for people with limited mobility. Changes in traffic flow or road crossing facilities can affect the ability of these groups to reach key services in their local communities or maintain social networks. It is necessary to understand the social and distributional impacts of the intervention in severance terms.
Accessibility TAG Unit 3.6.3	People without access to a car in areas without comprehensive public transport often have difficulty accessing services. Changes to the public transport network can impact on the ability of these groups of people to access jobs and services. It is necessary to understand the social and distributional impacts of a transport intervention in accessibility terms.
Personal Affordability TAG Unit 3.6.4	Changes in transport costs could have disproportionate effects where there are few or no travel alternatives, especially where low household incomes preclude car ownership and use. Changes to the transport network resulting in changes in out-of-pocket costs (in many cases, public transport fares, but also parking charges, road user charges or impacts on operating costs for cars) could have strong impacts on lower-income groups. It is important to understand the social and distributional effects of changes in costs, both increases and reductions.

1.5.3 TAG Unit 3.17 provides detailed guidance to the analyst on the approach to be taken to the appraisal of SDIs for the transport intervention. As the analysis of SDIs is a new element within appraisal and is also cross-cutting across aspects of the economy, safety and environment appraisals, one suggested approach in managing the appraisal of SDIs is for the Technical Manager to ask one person to take responsibility for coordinating the appraisal of SDIs for the transport intervention and in reporting the findings. To be as effective as possible, this person should have a good understanding of appraisal in general as well as of the potential impacts of transport interventions on different groups of people. For the purposes of this guidance the role of an SDI analyst is assumed, but this is only one approach to managing an appraisal; it is useful for purposes of exposition, but it will be for the Technical Manager to adopt the most appropriate manner of managing any particular appraisal project.

1.5.4 If this suggestion is adopted, the SDI analyst should follow the approach described in this TAG Unit and TAG Unit 3.17, working in close liaison with the technical specialists responsible for undertaking assessment of noise, air quality, safety, security, severance, accessibility, personal affordability and user benefits. The SDI analyst should become involved at a very early stage in developing options for any intervention, because of the possibility of designing out some negative impacts, for example from severance.

1.5.5 Within the appraisal, the SDI analyst should collate the socio-demographic data that can be used in the appraisal of SDIs, described in the process below. The core analysis, for each of the eight impacts for which SDI analysis is appropriate, is described in the relevant TAG Unit in each case. These analyses should then be collated in the matrix of social and distributional impacts, described in detail in TAG Unit 3.17, which itself informs the preparation of the Appraisal Summary Table (AST). The AST is described in The Appraisal Process (TAG Unit 2.5) and Appraisal (TAG Unit 3.2).

SDI analysis building on other elements of the appraisal process

1.5.6 The SDI appraisal process does not take place in isolation, and it is important that the analysis draws on and makes a contribution to technical work being undertaken, first at the option development and design stage and later in support of other aspects of appraisal. Transport modelling will play a crucial role in providing evidence supporting the appraisal of the intervention. Changes in transport costs will be used to inform the analysis of User Benefits and Personal Affordability impacts, whilst changes in traffic flows and speeds on highway links will inform analyses of noise, air quality and accident impacts.

Ensuring a proportionate approach to appraisal

1.5.7 A full and detailed appraisal is typically time and resource intensive. With eight impacts a full appraisal might also produce a large amount of information to decision makers. Therefore, from both the promoters' perspective and to reduce any scope for information overload on decision makers, it is always desirable to align the appraisal process to the scale, complexity and risks associated with the transport proposal under consideration.

1.5.8 A proportionate approach to appraisal considers whether the appraisal itself is proportionate to the potential scale and severity of the impacts, or the levels of uncertainty regarding the potential for adverse outcomes. If the impact under investigation exerts little influence on the outcomes or shows little variability, it would not normally merit detailed investigation, while an impact that will affect the outcome and is subject to variability and uncertainty does merit "nailing down" through further investigation.

1.5.9 The SDI appraisal process set out below incorporates screening and scoping processes that should ensure a proportionate approach is adopted.

1.6 Overview of the SDI appraisal process

1.6.1 This section provides an overview of the SDI appraisal process that is described in detail within TAG Unit 3.17.

1.6.2 An overview of the process is presented in Figure 1 overleaf. It should be noted that there is a degree of iteration in the process; this is because the initial tasks prior to full appraisal are important in focussing on whether appraisal is required and at what level. The initial decisions concerning whether or not SDI appraisal is required for any impact ought to be revisited as better information becomes available. Thus while an impact may be screened out in the initial screening, that decision needs to be reconsidered before the final impacts for SDI appraisal are defined.

1.6.3 While the figure applies to all appraisal, the final screening will determine whether a full appraisal is required or whether a more proportionate and generally more qualitative appraisal process can be used. Practice is still developing and it is not possible to set out definitive requirements for the more qualitative approach.



Figure 1 - Overview of the SDI appraisal process

1.6.4 Prior to undertaking the actual SDI appraisal, there are a set of steps that the SDI analyst should undertake, which are:

Step 0	Initial screening: consideration of whether the nature of the proposal will increase potential for SDIs (positive or negative).	Identification of likely impacts that will require further SDI screening. Justification required for any decision not to pursue individual impacts further.
Step 1	Confirm the areas impacted by intervention.	There is a need to select spatial levels appropriate to each impact.
Step 2	Identify social groups in areas affected by the intervention.	This will involve research to build a detailed profile of each area.
Step 3	Full screening.	This will include a check on the initial screening.



1.6.5 As noted above, the full screening should confirm or amend the findings of the initial screening as better information on the areas and social groups likely to be affected improves. In parallel with these initial steps the option(s) for intervention will also be developed, and the final screening should bring together both a more developed specification for the intervention and a better understanding of its likely SDIs.

1.6.6 Following the first three steps the following will be undertaken within the full appraisal:

• Step 4: Core appraisal process, for each of the impacts to generate technical data for use in the SDI analysis, with the SDI analysis undertaken as an integral part of this work; and
• Step 5: Collation of SDI analysis into a matrix of social and distributional impacts and summarising this data in the Appraisal Summary Table.

1.6.7 Steps 0, 1, 2 and 3 are described in detail in TAG Unit 3.17 while an outline is provided for Steps 4 and 5. If the screening process in Step 3 identifies that an impact should be subject to detailed SDI analysis, Step 4 directs the SDI analyst to specific TAG units for the detailed technical analysis. The SDI analyst should consider the guidance in TAG Unit 3.17 in the context of the proposed intervention and the impacts for which a full appraisal is to be undertaken, and then develop a specification for each SDI appraisal. The specification should indicate the detailed approach to be undertaken, the availability and quality of data sources, the use of transport model(s) and any primary research that will be required.

1.6.8 Where Step 3 identifies that a more proportionate / qualitative appraisal is more appropriate, the SDI analyst is required to provide a specification for such an appraisal. As with the full appraisal the Department (or equivalent) will provide advice.

1.6.9 The SDI appraisal should be fully integrated with the rest of the appraisal work. Therefore, the SDI appraisal specification, whether for a full or more qualitative appraisal, should be included in the Appraisal Specification Report (or similar) where one is being prepared - see TAG Unit 2.1.2, Option Development, for more details on this. The Appraisal Specification Report, including the SDI appraisal specification, should be agreed with the Department (or equivalent) prior to commencing the detailed appraisal. The Department may suggest additional research and/or analysis and provide technical advice on aspects of the appraisal.

1.6.10 Step 5 within TAG Unit 3.17 provides the guidance on the collation of the individual SDIs for each impact into the Matrix of Social and Distributional Impacts.

1.6.11 The matrix of social and distributional impacts is designed to supplement the Appraisal Summary Table (AST), by describing the distribution of impacts between different groups of people for the impacts under consideration. TAG Unit 3.17 sets out in detail the approach to the completion of the matrix and the reporting of key findings in the AST.

2. Further Information

The following documents provide information that follows on directly from the key topics covered in this Unit.

For information on:	See:	TAG Unit number:
Reference to approach to Distribution and Equity Supporting Analysis (Para 1.2.10)	The Appraisal Process	Unit 2.5
The detailed approach to the analysis of social and distributional impacts	Detailed Guidance on Social and Distributional Impacts of Transport Interventions	Unit 3.17

3. References

Social Exclusion Unit (February 2003) Making the Connections: Final Report on Transport and Social Exclusion

Atkins and MVA (Forthcoming) Assessing Social and Distributional Impacts in Transport Scheme Appraisal

4. Document Provenance

This unit, originally released in January 2010, has been updated in February 2011. Major changes have been highlighted; however, a number of smaller cosmetic changes, which do not affect the main requirements of the guidance, have not been highlighted.

Technical queries and comments on this Unit should be referred to:

Integrated Transport Economic Appraisal (ITEA) Division
Department for Transport
Zone 3/04 Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 4DR

Email: itea@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7944 6176
Fax: 020 7944 2198

5. Annex A: Legal Obligations for Promoters

5.1.1 The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 introduced a new disability equality duty on all public authorities, including local authorities and government departments, to promote disability equality, which came into effect on 4 December 2006.

5.1.2 The Gender Equality Duty for public bodies came into effect on 6 April 2007. The Equality Act 2006 amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and requires public authorities to pay due regard to promoting gender equality and eliminating sex discrimination.

5.1.3 This duty will complement the race equality duty introduced in the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, which gives all public authorities a positive duty to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination and promote race equality and good race relations.

5.1.4 The Equality Act (2010) creates a new single Equality Duty on public bodies to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good community relations. The new Duty continues to cover race, disability and gender, but is extended to cover age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity explicitly, and gender reassignment in full.

5.1.5 The Equality Act (2010) also introduces a new public sector duty to consider reducing socio-economic inequalities. The duty affects how certain public bodies make strategic decisions about spending and service delivery. It enshrines in the law the role of public bodies in narrowing gaps in outcomes resulting from socio-economic disadvantage.

5.1.6 In addition to national policy, public bodies are under certain legal obligations to consider the equality impacts of their policies and service delivery. The Equality Impact Assessment considers the impacts of the measures in the Equality Act (2010) in terms of their impact on race, age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation and religion or belief.

Updated: April 2011