Meeting of the Parliament 12 November 2025
I thank Mark Ruskell for bringing forward the debate. As my colleague Claire Baker said in her opening speech, Scottish Labour believes that we need a public transport system that is affordable, reliable, accessible and safe for all. That is one of the reasons why the former Scottish Labour Government introduced free bus travel for over-60s in 2006 and why we called for and supported the roll-out of free bus travel for young people. That has been positive, and members have talked about the gains from that policy. However, we need to recognise that it has also presented challenges. Although the vast majority of children and young people are a credit to their community, a very small minority of them have used buses as gang huts and have displayed antisocial behaviour towards bus drivers and other passengers. That is unacceptable.
As Claire Baker said, it is more than a year since Parliament supported a Scottish Labour motion calling for the removal of bus passes from individuals of any age who repeatedly carry out antisocial behaviour, and I join her in welcoming what the minister said about his plans to ensure that buses are safe places for bus drivers and passengers.
Claire Baker and Pauline McNeill both mentioned the report on the safety of women and girls on public transport, and we particularly need an update on that, too.
We welcome the provision of free bus passes for more than 2 million people, but we acknowledge that there are 3 million working-age people in Scotland between the ages of 22 and 60 who do not qualify for free bus travel. Of course, nothing in life is free, and working-age people are paying for free buses that others enjoy, but, at the same time, they are, in some parts of Scotland, paying among the highest bus fares in the UK. For example, in my region of Renfrewshire, it can cost my constituents £3.10 to make a two-mile single journey.
I know that the Government is taking action on off-peak rail fares. We have talked about pilots, but I think that, rather than pilots, we need price regulation of bus services in Scotland.
Unfortunately, over the past 18 years, we have not had any meaningful regulation of the bus system in Scotland, let alone price regulation. Next to nothing has been done to stop private bus companies dictating our bus services and putting profits before people.
Meanwhile, as we have heard, local people have seen their bus services cut and a staggering 1,400 bus routes have been lost between 2007 and 2024. Constituents in places such as Whitehaugh, Hunterhill, Glenburn and Gallowhill in Paisley are just a few of those who have been affected. As many others have said, it is no surprise that bus passenger numbers have plummeted by nearly a third since the SNP came to power. It is no wonder that my constituents regularly ask what the point is in a free bus pass if there is no bus to get on.
We need a concrete plan to ensure that enough buses exist for those who have an existing free bus pass—and for all bus passengers—and to bring local buses under local control. The Parliament passed bus franchising powers six years ago to allow that to happen but, to date, little has changed. I am pleased that the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport is progressing plans for franchising in the greater Glasgow area after consultation showed overwhelming support from the travelling public, as has been mentioned previously. However, as has been said, it needs support from the Scottish Government to allow it to take that forward.
I am not sure how committed the Scottish Government and the minister are to bus franchising. I know that the minister said that it is for authorities to decide, but we would like to hear from the Scottish Government a commitment to support franchising and local buses being taken under local control. That is the leadership that we have had in Manchester under Andy Burnham, in Leeds under the mayor there and in Liverpool. If it is good enough for those areas, it is surely good enough for areas such as greater Glasgow and others.