5. Statement by the Minister for Economy and Transport: Concessionary Travel

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:10 pm on 8 October 2019.

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Photo of David Rees David Rees Labour 5:10, 8 October 2019

I thank the Minister for his statement, and I'll be very brief because much around this issue has already been said, Deputy Presiding Officer. In your statement, you talked about the changes to the state age being incrementally raised, but we're not having a sort of plan as to when those will be, only the fact that April 2022 will be a starting point, but we don't actually have an indication as to when those incremental changes will take place. So, it would be very helpful for Members to see exactly when the changes will be and what age will be—[Inaudible.]—points, so that we can see the incremental changes. I appreciate very much that anyone who has got it is not going to lose it—crucial.

The other thing is, to actually use it, you need buses, and very many communities in my area in particular are seeing bus routes diminished, not actually increased. So, if we want to actually see a change of attitude towards bus transportation, we need to have the buses for them to actually use. So, you might well be changing this concession, but if there are no buses, no-one's going to use it and no-one's going to apply for bus passes, because they haven't got a bus to use. So, could you also give us assurances that you'll be investing in the services so that as people are able to get their bus passes as they get older—and I will say that there'll be some who'll not be retiring at 67, they'll be retiring earlier than that—can we make sure that there are buses for them to use?