Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:34 pm on 10 October 2017.
And, if the figures do stack up, we are more than willing to assess the benefits of them. But, in terms of the wider question about how much we put in and how much we take out, the Member is absolutely right. For the scheme at the moment, it’s cost £1 million. There’s something in the region, at the moment, of about 17,500 pass holders; there have been 1.5 million passenger journeys. Compare that to more than £0.25 billion that we’ve put into bus services in the totality as a Government and with local government for 101 million passenger journeys per year. I’ve been very clear in the past, and I’m going to say it again today, I do not believe the taxpayer is getting out of bus services what we are putting into them, and therefore reform of public transport next year will be crucially important in getting value for money, in getting services that are more accountable to the needs of taxpayers and passengers, and in making sure that we drive up quality right across the board.