Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 09 February 2022
First of all, I think that it is 31 days, but forgive me if I am wrong, Presiding Officer—I might need to correct the record on that point.
Beatrice Wishart spoke to the tone of my statement today. I very much want to work with political parties on this matter, and I hope that she and others will take up that invitation to engage in this work, because it is important that we get it right.
On expanding the railcard, Beatrice Wishart spoke about a specific example that the Liberal Democrats support. I do not know whether that is with reference to the under-22s scheme; I know that she made a point about that last week, and I would be more than happy to look at the detail of it. My view would be that we need to look at the detail of the costings involved.
I cannot give Beatrice Wishart a specific answer on that, but she is absolutely right on the general point about facilitating people to get back on to trains and buses and back into using public transport. We have a challenge on our hands in the Government, and I am not shying away from that. People are scared to go back to using public transport. A lot of people are still working at home, or they are taking a hybrid approach to employment, and that has also had an impact on footfall. We need to be alive to that. There is a job for the Government to do to support the public transport infrastructure that we have. I would be more than happy to speak to Beatrice Wishart on the specifics of the proposal that she raises. She will understand that I am not sighted on the details of the financials around it.