Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2022-2026 - annex 5: impact of policies on child poverty

Affordable Transport

Supporting work to address the affordability challenges of transport for families living in poverty; includes Free Bikes scheme for school children, under 22s bus travel and Fair Fares Review (FFR) which will assess the range of discounts and concessionary schemes. Affordable transport options facilitate access to education, employment, training and other essential services.

• Income from employment
• Costs of living
• Income from social security and benefits in kind

Enhanced life chances (e.g. health, wellbeing, capabilities, longer term goals)

Potential size of impact

Initial baseline work for the Free Bikes initiative suggests between 80,000 and 120,000 children of school age will benefit. All young people aged 5-21 are eligible for the under 22's bus scheme and have the potential to benefit from it. The scheme is estimated to extend free bus travel to up to 930,000 children and young people.

Type of impact

Affordable transport is intended to provide people greater access to education, employment and essential services which can enhance income from employment. Low fares and reduced car journeys can impact positively on the cost of living.

Certainty of impact

Research is being commissioned to explore the relationship between independent cycle travel for school children, and the parent/guardian's increased access to employment hours. People in lower income households use bus services more frequently and so children, families and households in or at risk of poverty are expected to experience the greatest relative benefit.

Priority families targeted by policy:

• Lone parents
• 3+ children
• Disabled
• Minority ethnic
• Baby < 1
• Mothers aged <25

The FFR is targeted across all households. The Free Bikes and Under 22s Scheme are explicitly targeted at children and young people. Free Bikes is targeted at school aged children between 4 and 18, with separate consideration for those requiring adapted bikes due to additional needs. Free travel for under 22s will benefit larger families. Eligibility for Free Bikes will be determined by a child poverty metric yet to be confirmed. All people aged 5-21 are eligible to apply for a card enabling free bus travel, though not all will take it up.

Tracking progress

The National Transport Strategy Delivery Plan (NTS2) sets out how the strategy will be delivered and the transport child poverty commitments for transport will be captured under the Plan. There are regular updates on NTS2 actions providing detail on how the priorities and outcomes will be achieved, and how they align with wider SG delivery plans, such as the Child Poverty Delivery Plan.