Current status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29221 by Fiona Hyslop on 21 August 2024, which refers to "delivering smart concessionary travel for young people and on our ferry services to Orkney and Shetland", for what reason such concessionary travel does not include young people on other islands.
Young people aged 16-18 (or 19-25 for full time volunteers) who live on the Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland, plus islands in North Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute and Highland Council areas are entitled to receive ferry vouchers.
Transport Scotland has been undertaking a project to modernise ferry concessions by introducing digital vouchers which are stored on a National Entitlement Card. This was rolled out to cardholders in Orkney and Shetland in April 2024.
Whilst we intend for digital ferry concessions vouchers to be used on any Scottish ferry route in time, the initial focus has been introducing the digital vouchers in Shetland and Orkney as a pilot area. At present, all other eligible cardholders continue use paper vouchers.