10.1.3 Policy Integration

For Policy Integration, a series of checks is specified to establish the option's impact in terms of integration with Government policy outside those areas already captured under the other criteria:

• The option's fit with the aims of wider (non-transport) government policies and national transport targets should be tested in Part 1 Appraisal; and
• Any genuinely additional benefits in the context of Scottish policy on disability, health and rural matters should be identified in Part 2 Appraisal, together with further social inclusion impacts.

Education, health and wealth creation are all well cited in Scotland's Transport Future - The Transport White Paper (2004), as being policy areas of concern when planning transport. This reflects the simple observation that transport decisions have wide impacts upon communities.

Whilst the other aspects of the appraisal process will capture the vast majority of an option's impacts, there is a need to consider the option against a wider policy context. The challenge is to avoid an overly cumbersome appraisal structure that strives to cover all facets of Government policy, but at the same time to identify key impacts beyond the areas captured in the body of the appraisal. The guidance below reflects a pragmatic approach; practitioners will need to assess which policy issues are relevant and therefore deserve attention.