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Core indicators issue letter

November 2005

National Core Accessibility Indicators CD

Please find enclosed a CD containing the national core threshold accessibility indicators for 2004, together with a report explaining how the indicators were calculated and some additional data which may be of use with accessibility planning. A full list of contents is included on the CD.

The dissemination of the indicators for the primary and secondary schools at SOA level is not possible at the moment, as disclosure issues arising from the use of PLASC data will need to be considered further before these can be made available.

The indicators should be a useful addition to your evidence base, helping you to identify some of the accessibility problems in your area.

The indicators have been calculated using a consistent methodology across all LTAs, and nationally available datasets. If you have already calculated the core indicators for your own area, please be aware that we would not necessarily expect the indicators calculated centrally and locally to have the same results, due to the use of different datasets and calculation methodologies. You are, of course, free to use your own calculations in helping to develop your accessibility strategies, where you are able to source more comprehensive or up to date local data.

The threshold indicator results on this CD are shown at Super Output Area, District and Local Transport Authority levels. Authorities should be able to create their own ward-based indicators using appropriate geography look-up files, however, if this causes you particular difficulties, please let us know.

The public transport data used to calculate the national core accessibility indicators has been taken from the National Public Transport Data Repository (NPTDR). It is recognised that since the quality of this data varied across regions for the 2004 data snapshot, this would have a knock on effect on the accuracy of the core indicator results. Local authorities are therefore encouraged to continue to make progress on the quality of the public transport data, one of the benefits being the increase in accuracy of the core accessibility indicators in future years.

It is worth saying again that the core indicators we are producing will not be used to judge authorities' performance, unless one or more is chosen by you to be your mandatory LTP local accessibility indicator, given that they are based on a number of assumptions made at the national level. Local Transport Authorities are encouraged to develop their own, locally relevant indicators. It is against these local indicators and targets that reflect local priorities, that authorities' performance will be measured, as part of the LTP process.

Additional Data

The attached CD also includes data for the retail locations, which DfT used to calculate the access to supermarkets core indicator for 2004. Although this data is being made available free of charge to local transport authorities, it is important that if you wish to make use of this data, you sign and return the attached licence agreement to Ann Barlow at the Department of Transport, at the address shown at the top of this letter.

We have also included the workplace data file which was used to represent work destinations in the calculation of the 2004 core indicators. We are aware that many local authorities have been using their own data on workplaces, and other destination datasets, for their own accessibility planning work, and this is completely acceptable.

If you require any additional information on the core indicators, or the additional datasets, please do not hesitate to contact Stephen Reynolds, Caroline Fish or me.

Regards,

Helen Pattington

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