Chamber and committees

As I said in my opening exchange with the convener, 95 per cent of buses in Scotland now have closed-circuit television. There will be reports from the driver and potentially other passengers. When a report is made, the evidence will be presented to Transport Scotland’s officials, who will go through the process to work out whether or not the balance has been crossed that would allow someone’s pass to be taken away from them.

And I have said that that would be my expectation, but it will not be a ministerial decision.

11:45

I can absolutely tell you that the first part of what you have asked about—the review process—is still being developed. Carole Stewart works at that more operational level, so she might something further to add on whether the person involved will be independent of the first decision that was made.

I hear the convener’s points. I will go back to Mark Ruskell’s comment that he will not support the order but will abstain, and that is absolutely his choice. People will swap their cards, but if they do that, it is fraud and therefore a criminal act. The purpose of the removal of a bus pass is to crack down on antisocial behaviour. It is, I hope, a deterrent more than anything else.

With regard to being able to lay an SSI as a completed piece of work, the convener is well aware that, quite often, we will lay an SSI and then develop the policy and its workings as we go forward. This order will be ready to be implemented by the autumn of this year. There has been a demand for us to lay the order in order to put out the message that antisocial behaviour on buses will be tackled. The order is the first stage of the process. A tremendous amount of work has already gone into it and a tremendous amount of work will continue to go into it in order to make it operational by the autumn of this year.

We discussed that, but I reiterate that children who use their bus pass to get to school have a right to get to school via the local authority. Those are two different issues. However, the operational aspect of the code of conduct will look at all the reasons for, and implications of, the removal of a bus pass. We would rather that it be used as a deterrent, so that it does not happen. However, if it does happen, the young person will have a right to get travel from their local authority if they live beyond 3 miles away from their school. The two schemes are not the same and should never be regarded as such.

If the committee would like a breakdown of what that is, I will have officials send that on to the committee.

I disagree entirely with that.

The asylum scheme is a pilot scheme. It is budgeted at £2 million, but, beyond that, those are budget questions that you would have to ask the cabinet secretary.

The order that is currently in front of us is about what happens on the bus. If other antisocial behaviour issues need to be dealt with, Police Scotland and the criminal justice system will deal with them.

Okay. As we have discussed, the free bus travel provided by the national concessionary travel scheme is invaluable to those who use it—it provides life-changing benefits for many people. As the committee is aware, the legislation being introduced today is designed to protect those benefits by increasing safety on the bus network and ensuring that a small minority of cardholders who engage in antisocial behaviour are deterred from doing so. That policy has been asked for by members of the public, politicians and the bus sector itself.

The legislation will allow access to concessionary travel to be suspended or withdrawn from anyone who breaches the code of conduct. It sets out appropriate behaviour for those travelling on the bus network who are using their entitlement to free bus travel. The code will explain the kinds of behaviours that might result in suspension of concessionary travel and will apply to all cardholders, regardless of age.

A draft of the code has been shared with the committee to aid its scrutiny of the instrument. The definition of antisocial behaviour in section 143 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 is deliberately broad. That reflects the fact that the exhaustive list of behaviour considered antisocial by the Government would be unworkable and anomalous. For the same reason, the draft code of conduct does not include a comprehensive list of behaviours, but broadly outlines the behaviours that might have a significant impact on bus drivers or other passengers.

Given the impact that the suspension might have on a cardholder, the code is designed to ensure that withdrawal or suspension of free travel is considered only by exception and that it is proportionate.

To support enforcement of the code of conduct, officials are developing supporting policies relating to reporting, suspension and review of any decisions to suspend. I have provided a high-level written overview of what is being considered regarding these procedures, but we will continue our approach of close collaboration with stakeholders to finalise the procedures.

Before I take questions, I want to be clear that our phased approach to implementation is appropriate and necessary. It is essential that we establish a fair and robust process that considers business impacts, child wellbeing and poverty considerations, data implications and options to phase in the policy to ensure that it is known to users, and that we address any operational issues. The instrument will secure the enabling power for the policy and send a clear message that antisocial behaviour on the bus network will not be tolerated. It will provide a strong foundation for Transport Scotland to continue the work with operators and partners—which strongly support the legislation—to finalise the supporting procedures.

I am happy to take any questions. I move the motion and recommend that the draft order be approved.