The extent of accessibility depends on a number of factors including:
· Appropriate location and accessibility of services and activities;
· Availability and physical accessibility of transport;
· Acceptable/appropriate mode of transport;
· Information and knowledge about transport;
· Trust in its reliability and safety;
· Physical and financial ability to access it; and
· Transport horizons.
The lack of one or more of the above can provide significant barriers for people to access activities and services, and this in turn contributes to social inequality. The barrier caused by inadequate access to transport was highlighted in the Government’s National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal as one of a number of factors contributing to disadvantage in deprived areas.
Accessibility Planning was introduced by the February 2003 Social Exclusion Unit Report, ‘Making the Connections’. This report announced that local transport authorities will take the lead on accessibility planning at the local level and that it will be incorporated into second LTPs. This framework aims to help transport authorities and their local partners to promote social inclusion and accessibility in a more co-ordinated and systematic manner.
Local transport authorities are required to work in partnership with others such as local planning authorities, Primary Care Trusts, Jobcentre Plus, local education authorities, local Learning and Skills Councils and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships. Partnership working is essential because making places accessible does not necessarily require the improvement of transport links: it could also involve improving local and national planning decisions, providing specialist support to help people get to work, improving design and delivery of services and challenging people’s perceptions.
An authority's framework accessibility strategy will be submitted in its provisional LTP in July 2005. By 31 March 2006, authorities should submit their completed accessibility strategies in their final LTP.
In order to support local authorities and their partners in undertaking accessibility planning, an accessibility planning software tool has been developed. The aim of the software tool is to assist local transport authorities and their partners to undertake accessibility and resource audits, although its use is not mandatory.
The Central Local Working Group for Accessibility Planning (CLWGAP) was initiated by the Department for Transport in response to the Social Exclusion Unit report ‘Making the Connections’. CLWGAP brings together representatives from central and local government to develop, pilot and evaluate approaches to accessibility planning and to share good practice. The group is branded ‘withinreach’. The withinreach programme provides training and advice for all stages of accessibility planning, from accessibility audit through to implementation and impact measurement of accessibility solutions identified in the accessibility strategy.
