3. 3. Statement: Consultations on Concessionary Bus Travel

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:31 pm on 10 October 2017.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 3:31, 10 October 2017

You probed earlier on Russell George in respect of the Conservative costings in relation to the free transport for young people offer that we announced last week, and I can assure you that they are fully costed, and I’d be very happy to share those costings with you. In fact, those costings are based on the costings of the existing concessionary fares scheme and directly applying them to young people who would be eligible. I just want to ask two questions, if I may, very briefly. The first is in relation—[Interruption.] The first is in relation to the costs of the existing mytravelpass scheme. It strikes me that, for the number of individuals participating in that scheme, the figures for 2016-17 worked out at not far off £1,000 per individual who was participating. That seems absolutely extraordinary when you consider that you can buy an annual pass with most bus operators for less than £500, and that pays for all your journeys, not just giving you a third off.

In addition, you did make a brief reference to rail travel in your statement. Of course, students can take advantage of student railcards at the moment, which are very often—. In fact, they’re currently on offer for £15, which would give them a third off their rail fares. It strikes me that students in particular are very often having to do long journeys, particularly to and from their places of higher education, in order to get back to their families. Will you look seriously at our proposals to extend—effectively, to make all young people in Wales eligible to access a young person’s railcard—within this offer that you are currently reviewing?