Information relating to free bus travel: FOI release

Information requested

1. Any correspondence, notes or briefings held by Transport Scotland regarding bus passes being stopped for those aged 60 and over, including any cost/benefit analysis that has been undertaken, between August 2023 and date of this foi?
2. In the free bikes for children pledge, how many children received free bikes, how much was paid overall for the project, breakdown of these costs, how much did each bike cost and where were they purchased from? - How much cash is being given to this project in the next financial year? Breakdown of this.
3. Cost of the free bus travel for under-22s so far, with breakdown of these costs?
4. How many free bus passes have been given to those eligible under-22 in each region? Breakdown by region and include how many have yet to apply or do not have bus passes who are also eligible?
5. How many free bus passes for those under 22 have been cancelled and reasons for cancellation?
6. How many free bus passes have been given to those eligible 60 and over in each region over the past three years? Breakdown by region and year and include how many have yet to apply or do not have bus passes who are also eligible? Include this for each of last three years (2021-23).
7. Any analysis done/estimations for plans to introduce free bus travel for migrants as announced by the Scottish Green at conference?

Response

1. Any correspondence, notes or briefings held by Transport Scotland regarding bus passes being stopped for those aged 60 and over, including any cost/benefit analysis that has been undertaken, between August 2023 and date of this foi?

Transport Scotland holds some of the information you have requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because exemptions under Section 29(1)(a) – Formulation or Development of Government Policy and Section 29(1)(b) – Ministerial Communications of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained in the Annex to this letter.

2. In the free bikes for children pledge, how many children received free bikes, how much was paid overall for the project, breakdown of these costs, how much did each bike cost and where were they purchased from?

Transport Scotland commissioned an independent evaluation of the Free Bikes for Schoolchildren project. The evaluation was published on 27 Jan 2023 and can be found at the following link: Evaluation of Free Bikes Pilots for School Age Children Who Cannot Afford Them - Final Evaluation Report | Transport Scotland.

The total cost of the pilot programme (from May 2021 until the end of March 2023) was £4,367,055. This figure includes the costs associated with various methods of provision and maintenance including staff costs.

In the financial year 2023/24 we provided £900,000 of funding to the Cycling Scotland Free Bikes Partnership to continue the scheme. To date, no funding has been confirmed for the Free Bikes Partnership in financial year 2024/25.

3. Cost of the free bus travel for under-22s so far, with breakdown of these costs?

The total cost of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme so far is £222,946,885. This is broken down in to £216,505,196 of operator reimbursement costs (as of 5 February 2024) and £6,441,689 of implementation and ongoing operating costs (as of 15 February 2024).

4. How many free bus passes have been given to those eligible under-22 in each region? Breakdown by region and include how many have yet to apply or do not have bus passes who are also eligible?

Data in the attached document, and corresponding information: This data is supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). The data refers to the number of people with a valid card but does not include products which either start in the future or have expired. NECPO are working with stakeholders and partners to carry out a data cleansing exercise of the customer database which may impact cardholder numbers when records are updated.

With regards to the question relating to eligibility, population figures in the 2022 Census are expected to show significant changes in a number of local authority areas. As a result, uptake estimates for the concessionary travel schemes cannot be accurately reported until full Census data is released.

5. How many free bus passes for those under 22 have been cancelled and reasons for cancellation?

Whilst Transport Scotland has an active interest in card cancellations, we do not hold this data. National Entitlement Card (NEC) cancellations are undertaken in the Card Management System (CMS) which is owned and managed by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO).

6. How many free bus passes have been given to those eligible 60 and over in each region over the past three years? Breakdown by region and year and include how many have yet to apply or do not have bus passes who are also eligible? Include this for each of last three years (2021-23).

Data in the attached document, and corresponding information: This data is supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). The data refers to the number of people with a valid card but does not include products which either start in the future or have expired. NECPO are working with stakeholders and partners to carry out a data cleansing exercise of the customer database which may impact cardholder numbers when records are updated.

With regards to the question relating to eligibility, population figures in the 2022 Census are expected to show significant changes in a number of local authority areas. As a result, uptake estimates for the concessionary travel schemes cannot be accurately reported until full Census data is released.

7. Any analysis done/estimations for plans to introduce free bus travel for migrants as announced by the Scottish Green at conference?

In relation to this question, the information you have requested in relation to free bus travel for people seeking asylum is available from the Parliament.scot website (pe2028_d.pdf (parliament.scot) in a response to the Public Petitions Committee. Under Section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202400395998 - Information Released - Annex

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1 page PDF

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101.6 kB

FOI 202400395998 - Information Released - Data

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Excel document

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17.3 kB