7. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on young people’s access to transport? OAQ(5)0113(EI)

Yes. I remain very keen that there should be a legacy scheme after the current mytravelpass ends on 31 March. My officials have had encouraging discussions with representatives of local authorities and with the confederation of bus operators. I’m optimistic that I will be able to confirm the details of the successor programme very soon.

Thank you. That is encouraging, because I was very disappointed that the mytravelpass scheme was not going to be continued, particularly as one of the reasons given to the media was that young people were only using it to travel locally, which, for 16 and 17-year-olds, I don’t think should be particularly surprising. My concern is that young people will be prevented from having access to education, training and youth services. I hear what you’re saying about working with local authorities and the confederation of bus transport, but it is very much my experience locally that bus services are being cut because of the funding pressures on local authorities. I would like to know what evaluation you undertook of this scheme and what decisions led you to the decision to discontinue it.

I should point out to the Member that this was a pilot scheme, and therefore something that we can learn from. And we have learnt from it. The fact of the matter is that uptake was not as high as we would’ve wished, which is why I’m very keen for the successor programme to reach more young people across Wales. I believe it’s something in the region of 10,000 young people who took advantage of the mytravelpass scheme; I would wish to see that number grow far more with the scheme that will emerge, which I’m hoping to announce within the coming weeks.