Official Report 132KB pdf
National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons (Scotland) Order 2006 (draft)
This is the only Executive response we have today. Members will recall that we tried to find out whether an operator can decide not to enter the scheme. The response is very much about Scottish ministers admitting or refusing to admit someone to the scheme. I do not think that it answers the question. What do members think?
No, it does not. Last week we had a discussion about asking questions and the Executive answering questions that we did not ask. We still seem to be in a sort of "Yes Minister" otherworld. The question is clear and I would have thought that the Executive could have answered it clearly rather than wandering all over the place and not coming to any conclusion. I presume that we just have to ask again.
Unfortunately we cannot, because we have to report on the draft order this week. All that we can do is report to the lead committee and the Parliament and say, "We asked the question, but we did not get an answer."
I accept what you say about the timescale, but I wonder whether it would be reasonable for us to pursue the matter and ask the question again anyway. The order will go through the Parliament and be published, but if the question is not answered, no one will be any the wiser.
I am quite happy to do that. We will report to the lead committee and the Parliament that the meaning of the draft order could have been a lot clearer, and we will write to the Executive to ask for an answer to that little question that we keep asking.