From Transport Scotland yesterday, the above and:
Children and young people in Scotland have now made over 300 million free bus journeys since the Scottish Government introduced free travel for under-22s.
Since January 2022, the scheme continues to transform how young people are traveling by bus, saving people money, supporting greener travel, and boosting the economy by opening up access to education, jobs, and leisure.
Over 80% of eligible young people have access to the scheme through a National Entitlement Card or Young Scot National Entitlement Card.
What’s happening in England, Sir Keir?
Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this:
From BBC Business November 2025:
A proposed plan to trial free bus passes for under-22s in England will not go ahead as it is “unaffordable” at the moment, the government has said. The trial was one of a number of recommendations put forward by the Transport Committee, a cross-party group of backbench MPs,in a report this August – with the suggestion it would boost access to jobs and education.
In its response, published on Friday, the government said no money was available for such a scheme during the current spending review period, which runs until 2028/2029. Since January 2022, everyone in Scotland aged between five and 22 has been entitled to free bus travel. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9drlgenjno
From STV 5 March 2025:
More than 200 million journeys have been made across Scotland as part of a scheme which allows young people to make bus journeys for free. Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop hailed the “transformative benefit” of the scheme, which was introduced just over three years ago in January 2022.
Children and young people aged between five and 21 can apply for a card which allows them to travel for free. With the Scottish Government having set, under the leadership of First Minister John Swinney, the goal of eradicating child poverty, Hyslop said that free bus travel saves families “significant amounts of money”.
But she also said the scheme was “creating new opportunities” by helping young people get to school, college, university or work, as well as encouraging more people to use “sustainable” transport. https://news.stv.tv/scotland/scotlands-under-22s-make-more-than-200-million-free-bus-journeys
What have Scotland’s other media been saying about the benefits of the free bus travel scheme for young folk in Scotland?
Herald, March 2023 – Scotland travel: Free bus travel scheme ‘fuelling rise in disorder’
Scotsman, November 2024 – Youths guilty of anti-social behaviour on public transport could lose free bus travel
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This is an example of what former ‘Scottish’ Labour leader Johan Lamont deprecatingly described as ‘the something for nothing society’.
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Thankfully , Labour in Scotland didn’t get their grubby hands on power at Holyrood otherwise Scotland’s young people would have found their bus benefit withdrawn .
However , they could have been exposed to even more radiation from SMRs as Labour did the bidding of their Nuclear paymasters and wasted more Public money on lining the pockets of the Nuclear Industry .
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