Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made on the effect of shared-space schemes on disabled people.

The Department has published guidance for local authorities and practitioners on designing shared space schemes in Local Transport Note 1/11: Shared Space.

To inform the advice given in the Local Transport Note, the Department commissioned an extensive research project in 2010, more information on which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shared-space. This included qualitative research with a number of different road user types: visually impaired pedestrians; mobility impaired pedestrians; pedestrians with learning difficulties; pedestrians who are deaf or hard of hearing; non-disabled pedestrians; and drivers.

We have been working with the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, which has been carrying out a review of 12 shared space and other street design schemes. This will report soon, and provide recommendations for further work in this area.

The draft Accessibility Action Plan, currently out for consultation, includes an action for us to consider CIHT’s recommendations, when received, and how to take them forward, by the end of 2017.