Concessionary Fares
The next item of business is a statement by Nicol Stephen on concessionary fares. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement and there should be no interventions.
Presiding Officer, with your permission I will make a statement about concessionary bus travel for older and disabled people.
The partnership agreement commits the Executive to three national travel initiatives: first, the introduction of a new free bus scheme for older and disabled people; secondly, a new concessionary fares scheme for young people; and, thirdly, a full review of public transport support for disabled people. I will concentrate today on the first of those commitments: the national scheme for free bus travel for older and disabled people.
We are now, as a result of our very successful discussions with the bus operators, in a position to make today's statement, which goes beyond our original commitment. We will announce the details of the scheme for young people in the spring of next year. Our work to assess improved travel support for disabled people will continue throughout 2005. That work will involve major research and consultation and our conclusions will be announced at the end of next year.
Our progress on free bus travel for older and disabled people is one of the major successes of devolution to date. Since September 2002, there has been an increase in bus use of more than 40 per cent, in only two years, by more than a million older and disabled people in Scotland—there were 45 million extra journeys in 2003-04 alone. Concessionary travel has delivered real change in the lives of older people. It has opened up opportunities and provided greater access to vital health and community services.
We now want to do more to build on the scheme's outstanding success. The local concessionary fares scheme has made a big difference to people's everyday lives; a national scheme offers the opportunity to go further. That is why our two parties—the Liberal Democrats and Labour—made a joint commitment in our partnership agreement. We agreed to deliver a national off-peak scheme to allow older and disabled people to travel anywhere in Scotland. That decision built on the success of policies such as free personal care and the warm homes deal as part of our determined effort to improve the quality of life for older people.
Today, I can confirm that we will sweep away the local scheme boundaries. Older and disabled people will be able to travel free by bus, anywhere in Scotland. Passengers will be able, as at present, to travel free in their local area; they will also be able to travel free by bus to anywhere else in the country and to travel free on local buses at their destination. The new scheme will open up exciting new opportunities and it will dramatically improve the quality of life of those involved. The scheme will connect people and communities throughout Scotland.
Our partnership commitment was to free off-peak travel and the current national minimum standard provides for travel only after 9.30 am. Today, I am able to announce that we will also sweep away the morning peak-time restriction. That will allow older and disabled people to travel free by bus anywhere in Scotland, at any time of day.
As well as receiving many representations about allowing peak-time travel, to which I have been able to respond, I have been asked to consider the position of older and disabled people who live on Scotland's islands. It is important that the scheme benefits older and disabled people in every part of Scotland. I am therefore pleased to announce that, for islanders, we are now also introducing a minimum entitlement of two free return journeys by ferry to the mainland each year. That will be a new benefit and will not affect any entitlements to ferry travel under existing local schemes.
Much has to be done to ensure that the national scheme is introduced smoothly. The scheme must be underpinned by procedures and rules that pay bus operators fair compensation and safeguard the Executive from fraud. To assist in the achievement of that aim, the intention is that the scheme will, for the first time, use smart cards throughout Scotland. That will be of major benefit in our drive to make public transport easier to use and more accessible for everyone. The introduction of smart cards for more than a million people to use on all Scotland's buses will create significant opportunities for flexible ticketing and integrated travel. Everyone in Scotland will benefit from those new opportunities.
The new national scheme will be introduced in April 2006. Until then, the current 16 schemes will continue unchanged. The new scheme will provide the same entitlement to card holders, wherever they live, and to ensure that that happens the scheme will be run nationally by the new national transport agency, using powers that are proposed in the Transport (Scotland) Bill. The current local schemes are being delivered through the commitment and professionalism of the bus operators and the transport authorities and that approach will stand us in good stead as we move to the national scheme.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has been positive about the changes and has agreed to hold detailed discussions about the new administrative and funding arrangements that will be required. Local authorities will continue to provide concessionary travel on other types of public transport, for example on rail or through taxicard or dial-a-bus and dial-a-taxi schemes, as they consider appropriate for their areas. However, I want to make an important point: every older or disabled person in Scotland will be entitled to use the new free bus scheme, regardless of their eligibility for those important local schemes. Older and disabled people will never have to make a choice between a local scheme and the national scheme.
Our objective will be to ensure that enough money remains in the local government settlement for local authorities' continuing responsibilities. We also want to ensure that resources that are used to support socially necessary bus services are protected locally.
The measures amount to a major step forward for older and disabled passengers in Scotland and have been made possible by an agreement with the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK, the representative body for the bus operators. The agreement commits bus operators for the first time to an unrestricted, Scotland-wide, free bus scheme for older and disabled people, at agreed levels of payment. Card holders will be able to access the widest range of bus and coach services. The current local schemes cover only local services and, in some—but not all—areas, scheduled coach services in the local area. The new scheme will allow older and disabled people to travel free on local services and scheduled coach services throughout Scotland.
Currently, each scheme has its own rate of payment to bus operators, which is complex, bureaucratic and time consuming. All that will go. The national scheme will have a single payment rate for all operators on all journeys. The rate will be 73.6 per cent of the average adult single fare. That is the same rate as the one that applies in Wales, where it is widely accepted as being fair to the operators and to the taxpayer. The rate will form the basis of our new approach. It will compensate for the revenue that passengers would have paid through the fare box if there had been no scheme and for any additional costs that the operator might incur, for example by putting on extra services.
However, there will be an important difference in our approach. There will be an extra safeguard for the taxpayer. In Scotland, the total payment in any one year on the national bus scheme will be capped. For the scheme that I am announcing, the maximum payment will be £159 million in 2006-07 and £163 million in 2007-08. That guarantees that the scheme will be affordable for the Executive and for the taxpayer. If in any year it becomes clear that the cap will be reached, there will be a mechanism involving the bus operators to adjust payments accordingly.
The new scheme is good news for everyone who believes in better public transport in Scotland. The Confederation of Passenger Transport UK has assured us that, on the basis of the agreement, bus operators will invest in modern vehicles and better services, which will secure benefits for all passengers who use the network. We will ensure that the additional benefits to the bus network as a whole will be tracked as part of our monitoring of the new scheme.
This is a ground-breaking agreement with the bus industry in Scotland and a real model of partnership working that will benefit the industry and all passengers. Today's announcement is good news for older and disabled people throughout Scotland, good news for the bus industry, good news for passengers and good news for everyone who believes in better public transport.
The minister will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I will allow about 20 minutes for that. Members who wish to ask a question should press their request-to-speak buttons now.
On behalf of the Scottish National Party, I warmly welcome the minister's announcement. I say that not just because of the impending festive season but because the SNP has, as the minister knows, given full support to the scheme. We particularly welcome the scheme's extension to 24-hour access on buses and the agreement that there should be some concessionary travel for senior citizens and people with a disability on ferries, which we also called for.
My questions to the minister are offered, as always, in the spirit of critical support. First, the minister quoted two figures as maximums, but can he give the actual estimated costs of the scheme? It is important that we get the costs right. Secondly, does he accept that some of the money—some people argue that it is £10 million or more—that is intended at present to be used by local authorities for the 16 concessionary schemes is not so used? Could that be a black hole? Will he make available to the Local Government and Transport Committee the computation that sets out the figures? It is essential that the costings are accurately estimated and that we know the cost of the proposed smart cards.
Finally, can the minister indicate whether the Executive has considered and made a study of the impact that the new scheme may have on senior citizens and people with a disability moving from rail, on which they may travel at present, to the free bus services? Has the minister considered that issue, which is obviously important?
The scheme will allow many senior citizens and people with a disability to get out and about; so what His Eminence the Cardinal said earlier—"Let me oot"—will be possible once the scheme comes in.
It is fair to say that Fergus Ewing's critical support is renowned across Scotland, particularly in relation to transport debates. I warmly welcome his support for the scheme. It is very encouraging to see him so happy with an Executive statement—long may that continue.
On the important questions that Fergus Ewing asked about funding, I should repeat that the total cost will be as I described in the statement: £159 million would be the maximum amount payable in the scheme's first year, rising to £163 million the following year. The issue that will require detailed discussions with COSLA is the current funding for the 16 existing concessionary schemes. Fergus Ewing and other members will know that, in some areas, the funding that has been made available to local authorities has been used exclusively for the free bus travel scheme, but in other areas that funding has been used for other concessionary schemes and other forms of support. It is important, particularly in rural Scotland, that such services are continued and safeguarded. The discussions that we will have with COSLA will ensure that that happens.
The important thing is that there is adequate funding in the Scottish budget not only for this scheme for elderly and disabled people, but for the concessionary fares scheme for young people and for supporting more work with disabled people once the review is finished. All of that means that we have the resources to honour our partnership agreement commitments. That is why I am so pleased that today's statement goes beyond what was originally promised.
I always welcome good news, but I am sure that the minister agrees with his Liberal Democrat colleague on Dumfries and Galloway Council, Councillor Joan Mitchell, when she says that there is no point in having a free bus travel scheme if there are no buses. Will he go further than he did in his previous response and commit to funding arrangements for the scheme that will guarantee that existing bus services in rural areas will remain as they are, and that throughout Scotland no individual passenger will be disadvantaged by the implementation of the scheme?
Given the collapse of bus services throughout Scotland during the stewardship of Conservative Governments, with a decline every year in bus passenger numbers and a particularly negative impact on rural Scotland, it is a bit rich to receive such criticism from David Mundell. We will ensure that bus services are protected and improved as a result of the initiative.
We are introducing significant additional funding for our buses in Scotland. The scheme will invest more than £150 million a year in concessionary travel, which will give bus operators the confidence to invest in new vehicles, such as disabled-accessible vehicles, and in new services. The guarantee has been given to us in discussions with bus operators—which are positive about the scheme—that it will have that positive impact. That is the sort of injection of Government support that the industry has been crying out for—the sort that was completely lacking during the Conservative years. It is good news for the bus industry.
Finally, we are doing more than ever for demand-responsive transport, which is used where there is a problem for individuals in getting from their home to the bus stop or the railway station, or where there is a lack of services in rural areas. For the first time, we are investing in dial-a-taxi, dial-a-bus and community bus services on a scale that is unprecedented in Scotland, and we will do more of that.
Coalition members are delighted to join Opposition members who have seen the light in welcoming the extension of the scheme, particularly the removal of early-morning restrictions, which will allow passengers access to hospitals and to care for relatives and grandchildren. That is a particularly apt Christmas present in the spirit of the season.
However, the minister will be aware that a number of members on all sides of the chamber have raised the issue of fraudulent claims by a small number of disreputable operators who sought to undermine the integrity of the valued schemes. Clearly, measures that have been announced today—smart cards and the national rate for reimbursement—will go a long way towards dealing with fraud, but is he satisfied that sufficient steps have been taken to make the reimbursement processes fraud free so that the resources will go to those operators who are actually delivering this valued service?
The short answer is no, I am not sufficiently confident at present that the scheme is as fraud free as it should be, which is partly due to the fact that we have 16 local schemes. I continue to hear anecdotes and receive letters from older people who received tickets for journeys the length of which was considerably greater than those they intended to take, which is why the introduction of the national reimbursement rate is so important. However, the crucial factor will be the introduction of smart cards. If we can come forward with new smart-card technology that is available on all buses and coaches in Scotland, if we can kick-start the funding of that and if we can introduce smart cards for more than 1 million people in Scotland and make them affordable for other passengers, we will be in a strong position to monitor the success of the scheme and clamp down finally on any fraud.
I thank the minister for his statement. Our colleague John Farquhar Munro thinks that all his Christmases have come at once this week, with yesterday's announcement of the abolition of the Skye bridge tolls and today's excellent announcement on concessionary travel—particularly the part on ferry travel. Will the minister confirm the importance of local concessionary fares schemes for elderly people, such as those on rail travel, and will he give an assurance that funding will still be available for local councils to provide such schemes? Will he confirm that the tracking that he announced in his statement will ensure that bus companies continue to improve and enhance services and do not simply enhance their bottom lines?
It is important that the scheme leads to improvement in services and investment in new vehicles and that it gives a fair and appropriate return to bus operators for the significant number of additional older people and disabled people that I believe will be carried on their vehicles under the new scheme.
We will have careful discussions with COSLA on the local schemes. As I said, COSLA supports the national scheme, but we must identify areas where the funding that was provided for local initiatives was used for important demand-responsive transport services, such as dial-a-taxi or dial-a-community-bus schemes. We must consider that carefully for each of the 16 areas that currently have schemes and ensure that the financial settlement is fair. Funding has been set aside to ensure that we achieve that.
Because the scheme is ground breaking and innovative and will be examined by other parts of the UK and countries throughout Europe, we must track its success and be able to explain that the money that has been invested has led to better services.
I ask for shorter questions and answers from now on.
Does the minister agree that, while his statement will be widely welcomed by senior citizens, further resources will be required to ensure that every senior citizen benefits from the national concessionary bus travel scheme, including those who live in remote locations? Will he undertake to ensure that the less-profitable routes, such as that from East Kilbride to Wishaw General hospital, are reinstated? Concessionary travel can be called that only when it actually caters for senior citizens' needs.
There must be a question, Mr Swinburne.
I am delighted that measures will be employed to prevent the abuse of this excellent scheme by unscrupulous operators who at present are recompensed for carrying phantom passengers.
Question.
On behalf of all those whose lives will be greatly enhanced by the excellent scheme, I congratulate the minister and the Executive, but I ask the minister to consider the problem that I mentioned.
I will consider the issue that John Swinburne raises, but I emphasise that the scheme will be available to all elderly people and disabled people in Scotland. I am sure that further developments will take place to improve access through demand-responsive services such as the dial-a-taxi and dial-a-bus schemes.
I welcome the announcement, which delivers a key pledge from the 2003 Labour manifesto and the partnership agreement, but I have two brief questions. First, what investment in additional capacity does the minister envisage is necessary to achieve the welcome removal of the morning peak-time restriction? Secondly, he stated that he intends to make a further announcement in the spring on the scheme for young people, but does he also intend that scheme to be implemented in April 2006?
The short answer to the second question is that that is the intended implementation date. We are doing further work on the scheme for young people, which is more complex and involves operators of a variety of transport services, such as ferries and trains as well as buses. However, I hope to confirm the 2006 implementation date when I make the announcement to Parliament in the spring.
Additional capacity will be required, but different levels of additional capacity will be required in different parts of Scotland. The Executive's extra investment will enable bus operators to invest in new services. The additional capacity reimbursement is included in the 73.6 per cent reimbursement rate that I mentioned in my statement.
I warmly welcome today's announcement. In a week when there has been a bit of knocking copy about the Scottish Parliament, this perhaps begins to redress the balance. I am sure that there was an oversight on the minister's part in regard to questions from Fergus Ewing, but will the minister tell us what studies have been undertaken into the impact that the scheme will have on rail travel in Scotland? Will he also let us know what the cost might be of the introduction of the smart card? It is not just the cards themselves, but the machinery that will be required on buses and so on. The scheme will be introduced in April 2006, when I will be only eight years away from qualifying, and I am very much encouraged by that.
Is that all?
That is all—it is a shock. Maybe it will encourage other MSPs of an elderly age to use public transport and keep costs down.
I thank Bruce Crawford for that, and I apologise for missing a couple of Fergus Ewing's points. The cost of the smart-card scheme is subject to further discussions with the bus operators, but it will be a multimillion pound scheme. It is very important that we roll out the scheme before the start date of April 2006. I will give more details on that to Parliament in due course.
On studies on rail travel, all the evidence from the local schemes is that such initiatives greatly increase the number of older people and disabled people using public transport. It is not a question of removing travel from other modes of transport. However, with a national scheme for free bus travel, we will have to consider that carefully, and we will have discussions with First ScotRail. We want to monitor the impact of the scheme on public transport throughout Scotland. The clear trend, however, is that when we introduce a new scheme such as this, it leads to a dramatic growth in public transport, rather than robbing one form of transport of passengers and gaining them for another.
I would like to say to the minister, to his colleagues, to the Executive and to the civil servants: "Fandabidozi!" The announcement that the minister has made today is absolutely brilliant. People throughout Scotland will be thrilled to bits, so I thank the minister on their behalf.
The minister said in answer to another member that he will reserve some of the money to consider other issues, such as dial-a-ride and other special needs services. Some groups of frail, vulnerable elderly people cannot even leave the house. Will the minister amplify how he will address that particular aspect? It is an issue in Fife, and we would like to engage the minister in that debate.
I can amplify how I will address that. We want to continue to fund and to expand demand-responsive schemes, as they are called by the profession—I am not sure that local people always understand that phrase. We are also, for the first time, introducing that form of initiative in Scotland's cities. The dial-a-taxi and dial-a-community-bus initiatives have been more common in rural areas until now. It is obvious that people in rural areas can become isolated, but many disabled people in our cities find it very difficult to access public transport and then to have confidence that public transport will have disabled-accessible vehicles. All of that is an important part of the study that will be carried out into disability issues in 2005 and, as I promised, I will report to Parliament on that. However, local authorities still require to retain some funding to ensure that they can expand those schemes.
The minister has announced a huge subsidy by taxpayers to private—yes, private—bus companies and called it an investment. Can he tell me why the Executive believes that private schools are different, and why the Executive is reluctant to make a similar subsidy towards private schools to ensure greater access to good education? That would clearly be a good investment for our children. On the point—
That is well off the point, Mr Monteith. There is no need for a ministerial reply to that.
On the point about the smart card, will the minister rule out its being used in any way at a later date as part of the identity card proposed in another place?
Brian Monteith is engaged in a desperate attempt to try to turn the scheme into a negative or party-political issue. I am deeply disappointed by that, because I had hoped that the scheme would receive broad support from all parties in the Parliament. That is the spirit in which all the other questions have been posed, but, unfortunately, not Brian Monteith's.
Christmas has indeed come early—to hear Fergus Ewing and the Scottish National Party welcome a ministerial statement is truly historic—but it is a pity that the Christmas spirit has not reached the party of Scrooge.
When the minister considers concessionary travel for young people, will he acknowledge the fact that, in poorer communities, many young people who are in education face significant barriers to accessing our historical sites, our cities, our cultural centres and even the Parliament?
Yes, we intend to consider those issues. The concessionary travel commitment for young people will enable them to use ferries and trains, as well as buses, at a reduced rate, which will be good for their education and their ability to access all parts of Scotland. Too many young people have rarely travelled away from their local communities and areas; they ought to get the opportunity to see all Scotland.
Will the minister consider extending the scheme to disabled people's carers, who are essential to helping them to access transport? What redress will elderly or disabled people have if they simply cannot access the bus fleet in their area because the buses have high steps?
The second point will be part of the study that will be carried out next year, and I share Christine Grahame's concern on the first point. There are clearly circumstances in which it would be appropriate for a carer or partner to accompany a disabled person, and I am concerned that the local policies on that are inconsistent throughout Scotland. In the spirit of good will and cross-party consensus—which is important in the Parliament on major issues such as the concessionary fares scheme—I undertake to consider the issue carefully.