Councillors in West Lothian have welcomed the introduction of free bus travel for young people across Scotland - but raised concerns about the costs of a scheme which is set to benefit almost a million young Scots.
Anti-poverty manager Nahid Hanif faced questions on costs and the roll-out when she gave details of the scheme to a meeting of West Lothian Council’s Executive this week.
More than 47,000 young people in the county will qualify for the free travel on buses from the end of January and the council is already working on plans to promote the scheme which has been introduced by Holyrood.
The free travel scheme is administered through the National Entitlement Card scheme in a similar way to the Over 60 bus pass.
Young people who are 5−21 years old will need a new or replacement National Entitlement Card (NEC) or Young Scot National Entitlement Card (Young Scot NEC) before hopping on board the bus though. Previously issued cards will not allow access to the scheme.
Parents or guardians must apply on behalf of 5-15 year olds. Young people who are 16-21 years old should apply themselves. Children under 5 years old already travel for free on buses and don’t need a card.
The scheme which is being introduced by the Scottish Government is designed to encourage Scotland’s younger generations to use low-emission and lower carbon public transport with a view to embedding that behaviour from a young age, to tackle the climate emergency and to improve air quality in towns and cities by reducing the number of car journeys.
It will also support broader outcomes such as: Increasing opportunities and reducing inequalities, improving access to education, employment, training and recreation, including in rural and remote communities. It is also aimed at removing cost barriers for people on low incomes.
It was vital the council supported the roll-out of the the scheme, a report to Executive said
But Councillor Tom Conn pointed out that reports suggested that the council would have to provide staff to administer the scheme. “Accepting the principle that it is a good scheme the Scottish Government is expecting the council to develop this scheme without resources and against the background of cuts so, really, this is a cut.”
Nahid replied: “ On a local level there’s no funding to support the initial development or ongoing support to support this scheme.”
Tory Group leader Damian Doran-Timson voiced concern that the NEC website suggested that people only apply for cards for “essential” travel, and questioned the definition of that term.
“What’s the point of trying to bring something in for the end of January if we can’t manage the process”? He asked.
“The Scottish Government and Transport Scotland recoginse that if everyone was to apply at the same time they would have issues with the website. It is essentially a soft launch” said Nahid. She added that the definition of essential was for access to employment or education.
Nahid explained that her staff were feeding back comment to a national working group on issues such as the lengthy application process.
Labour's transport Executive Councillor Cathy Muldoon said: “I would have some concerns. I don't think that young people should be facing barriers in applying for this."
Councillor Frank Anderson, the deputy SNP group leader, asked why the council needed the full time equivalent of one member of staff to manage the scheme, adding: “For most young people it is second nature to do these things online.”
Nahid explained that everyone who makes an application will need to provided with a new Young Scot card. There had initially been plans for an app to be installed by those over 16 but this has run into difficulties. A member of staff was on hand to advise with uploading the relevant details to the application. She pointed out that not everyone has a passport or photo Id.
“ We are taking between 30 to 40 emails [ a day] in the inbox looking for support,” she added.
Councillor Anderson said that: “in the grand scheme of things, I would think we’d all agree this scheme is to be welcomed.”
