Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:02 pm on 8 October 2019.
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I have to be honest, I was actually quite cynical in the early days when you were bringing the free bus passes in. I thought, 'They'll never afford it.' And do you know what? I have to take my hat off to the Welsh Government because I think it's one of the best policies you've brought forward. [Interruption.] But it's actually been a victim of its own success. But I have to look at my own constituency, and we do have an older demographic there.
Now, last Wednesday, Dr Dai Lloyd AM, myself, and Julie, our Deputy Minister, and Helena Herklots were present for a hustings on the state of the nation report, the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales report, which included an awful lot of data that her and her team had collected from across Wales, and she herself has actually put out quite robust opposition to you moving the age from 60 to 65. And just some of the reasons—. I think Mike Hedges had actually read this before he read it out, but, basically, that it will have significant impact on our older people, it does run the risk of increasing loneliness and isolation, and also every pound spent on concessionary fares returns at least £2.87 in benefits for older people, their communities and local economies. So, it says here over 150,000—[Interruption.]—older people in Wales either will not travel or will choose other travel modes. I suppose, for me, what concerns me is that you've worked out the figures of what it's going to save the Government, but I've—[Interruption.] Right, okay, well, you've worked out the figures, then, as to why you're going to extend the age limit higher—