Meeting of the Parliament 11 September 2025
Members can see from the papers scattered in front of me that I want to get through a whole load of things, but I think that time will be absolutely against me.
I genuinely thank my colleague for bringing the debate to the chamber. It is a brilliant debate to have, and I was really taken by the member’s enthusiasm. The enthusiasm of the Youth Parliament has clearly rubbed off, as the member is clearly excited by what it has brought to the debate.
John Mason just mentioned the Scottish Youth Parliament’s manifesto, which I note is called “Dear Scotland’s Future”. I absolutely love that title; it captures the spirit of the debate and the fact that we in the chamber all have a responsibility and a duty to consider these issues, because we are legislating for that future. It brings everything back into sharp focus.
I will pick up a couple of points that Sarah Boyack made. She pointed out that, although free bus passes are great, they are no use if there is no bus. She is absolutely correct, and I take her point on board. We have discussed it on numerous occasions, and we are looking at how we make that better.
We need to remember, though, that we are still dealing with a deregulated industry, and it is private operators who are working in these areas. That is why we introduced the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. Everything in that legislation is now in play, so local authorities have the ability to make the interventions that are right for their areas.