Meeting of the Parliament 11 March 2026 [Draft]
The programme for government for 2025-26 set out a commitment to suspend and withdraw free travel from anyone who does not act responsibly on Scotland’s buses. The SSI is an important step in delivering that commitment. It secures the enabling power for the policy and provides the basis for the on-going work with operators and partners to finalise the supporting administrative procedures.
The policy will apply to all national concessionary travel schemes, recognising that people of any age can engage in unacceptable behaviour. It will be backed by a code of conduct that will set out clear standards for respectful behaviour and a code focusing on behaviours that hurt or threaten others or damage or disrupt the bus. At its core is a focus on the behaviours that have the most significant impact on passengers, drivers and the safety of the bus journey.
A phased approach is being taken to the implementation to ensure that a fair and robust process is established. That will take into account a range of issues that I know concern colleagues, including business impacts, child wellbeing and poverty considerations and impacts on older and disabled people. The approach will also take into account any operational issues as they emerge. There has been substantial engagement with internal and external stakeholders as part of the policy. Legislation and procedures in this approach will continue, with published impact assessments being updated as appropriate.
Our goal is to make the bus network safer. We want to create a deterrent that stops people behaving in an unacceptable way. That is surely the best possible outcome.