Transport for London: Strategic Review of Equalities

We were commissioned to provide, in partnership with a well established transport consultancy, a strategic review of equality and inclusion in Transport for London (TfL). The brief was to look at the substantial amount of equality and inclusion work being undertaken in TfL in the context of expected developments in equalities, in London, and in transport over the next few years.

We used our wide ranging experience of TfL to inform our work. We have, for instance:

• Delivered in London Underground the largest equalities-based management training programme in the UK – the award winning Managing Diversity Competence Programme;
• Advised and delivered training on Equality Impact Assessments as well as carrying out Equality Impact Assessments on two sensitive high profile projects;
• Reviewed all the training given to operational staff on meeting the Disability Equality Duty; and
• Advised TfL on its evidence for having reached level 5 of the ESLG.

We conducted thorough desk research, using documents mainly from the Greater London Authority (GLA) and TfL, to understand the role of transport in delivering and promoting equality and combating social exclusion in the capital.

We then developed a structured interview questionnaire which we used in meetings with all the key leaders and managers in TfL. We also interviewed key stakeholders from the GLA. We used these interviews and our knowledge of the organization to review the current position internally in relation to the transport industry and carry out an analysis of the likely key issues over the next 10 years.

We identified issues where the authority could make rapid progress (such as more visible leadership and some HR policies and practices) and others where change would be hard won over a longer period (such as enhanced understanding of customers and their various needs and even greater attention to integrated transport) but which would have a demonstrably positive impact on equality target groups.

We wanted above all to produce a set of recommendations that would build on and enhance the good practice that we had encountered in TfL; in particular we knew that TfL had an over-arching vision and strategy that chimed well with the Mayor’s vision for transport in London and with the new public duties to promote equality.

The project lasted three months and the report was delivered on time, to budget and was received very positively. We are confident that it will inform changes in Transport for London that will enhance equality for transport users.