6. To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government is making public transport more affordable. (S6F-02494)

We are taking a range of actions to deliver an affordable public transport system for people throughout Scotland.

Earlier this week, we announced that £2 million will be made available in next year’s budget to progress free travel for people seeking asylum in Scotland. This week, we announced the expansion of the existing national ferry concessionary travel scheme to all island residents under the age of 22. Right now, passengers throughout Scotland are benefiting from low fares as a result of our decision to pilot the removal of peak fares on ScotRail. In addition, thanks to the most comprehensive concessionary travel scheme in the United Kingdom, more than 2 million people are eligible to benefit from free bus travel, and 3 million such journeys are taking place every single week.

I thank the First Minister for outlining those successes. Free bus travel has been described as life saving for people seeking asylum. When those people, having escaped from persecution, war and suffering, are forced to live on just £6 a day, the very least that we can do is extend a hand of help.

Does the First Minister agree that it is our responsibility to use the full extent of our powers to welcome those who are forced to flee their homes? Does he agree that, by extending free bus travel to people seeking asylum, we are showing that we are a country and a Parliament that are proud to protect all those who seek safety here?

The First Minister:

That is absolutely well said by Mark Ruskell, and I agree with every single word of it. We have long campaigned—often with other political parties, including the Greens—against the UK Government’s inhumane asylum processes. Those processes have left many asylum seekers, who are not allowed to work, almost at the point of destitution—in fact, many of them are in destitution.

Mark Ruskell is right to challenge the Scottish Government on what more we can do to assist them. That is why I am pleased that we have announced that £2 million will be made available in next year’s budget to progress free bus travel for people seeking asylum. It is an issue that our Green colleagues have been keen to pursue with urgency and pace. The announcement is the next step in ensuring that our transport system and our country are fair and accessible to all.

I could not agree more with Mark Ruskell that, when people are seeking sanctuary from war, persecution, extreme poverty and hatred, we all have a responsibility to step up to ensure that we help them as best we possibly can.

I am sure that the First Minister agrees that the UK Government’s £2 bus fare cap scheme is a very positive initiative. It has made a real difference for thousands of people and has encouraged more people to use the buses. When can we expect to see something similar in Scotland?

The First Minister:

The lacklustre response to that question from the member’s own colleagues is probably quite merited, because we have, of course, the most comprehensive—it is very comprehensive—concessionary travel scheme in the UK, and we have just expanded it, as I mentioned in my response to Mark Ruskell.

The point that Mark Ruskell made, which I agree with entirely, is that we are having to step in here because asylum seekers—the origin, of course, of this question—are suffering so badly because of the inhumane Laws of the UK Government. Because of those inhumane laws and because of the fact that the UK Government is inflicting destitution on many asylum seekers, we have to step in. We are proud to do that, but we should not have to step in. We should not have to continually mitigate the worst excesses of the UK Government. It would be far better if we had the powers in our own hands.

The origin of the question was how we can make bus travel more affordable. The fact is that, while we have a good and comprehensive policy in place for those who are aged up to 22 and those who are over 60, people in the middle are finding it very difficult. It is people who are on low pay, with low incomes, who are asking the question. When Andy Burnham introduced the £2 fares in Greater Manchester, usage went up by 10 per cent in a month. When are we going to look seriously at helping that group of people—the low paid, who are struggling the most and are finding bus travel unaffordable?

The First Minister:

We can compare concessionary travel schemes across the UK. I go back to the point that we have the most comprehensive concessionary travel scheme in the UK. [

Interruption

.]

The Presiding Officer:

Let us hear the First Minister.

The First Minister:

Young people, those with disabilities and older people are all being assisted through our concessionary travel scheme. That ensures that millions of journeys are made every week, which in turn helps the bus companies, particularly in the face of the challenges that they struggled with in the course of the pandemic.

I say to Alex Rowley that we also have our fair fares review to ensure that a sustainable and integrated approach is taken to public transport fares. I am sure that he and others will take a great interest in that when it is published. However, wherever we can act, whether that is on our buses, in removing peak rail fares, or on our ferries when it comes to the expansion of the concessionary scheme, we will act where we have the power to do so.

For those living in the smaller isles in my Constituency, ferries to and from the Orkney Mainland perform the same role as bus transport elsewhere in the country. Can the First Minister confirm that young islanders who rely on those lifeline routes will also be included in any future free ferry fares scheme?

The First Minister:

I will, of course, consider the very important point that Liam McArthur raises. He raises the crucial point that those links are lifelines. They are important to young people on islands just as rail and bus services are on the mainland. We will give further details in due course, but that point will be given serious consideration.

The Presiding Officer:

We move to general and Constituency supplementaries. If members are concise, we will be able to get more members in.