Free bus travel for young people in SNP-Green budget deal

Camley's cartoon: Budget to include free bus travel for Scotland's young people.

The deal comes ahead of a vote on Stage one of the budget for 2020/21 tomorrow.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said the budget would increase support for young people, police, climate action and local government.

Key elements include:

A National Concessionary Travel scheme offering free bus travel for 18s and under.

The Scottish Government will undertake work on design and due diligence with a view to introducing such a scheme in January 2021.

A total uplift for the police service of £60m in the next financial year with £13m of additional investment in frontline services and a further £5m of additional capital investment, on top of £42m already committed

Another £95 million of further funding for local government, taking total additional Scottish Government support for local authorities to £589m.

A £45 million package of investment in low carbon projects has also been agreed.

Ms Ms Forbes said: “I am pleased to have reached an agreement to pass the Scottish budget and deliver certainty for communities, businesses and our vital public services – especially in face of the uncertainty created by the UK Government’s decision to delay its budget.

“I want to thank all parties for the constructive way in which they have approached this year’s discussions. While it is not possible to meet every party’s demands in full, I believe in reaching formal agreement with the Green Party, I am also delivering on key asks from every party and I encourage all MSPs to consider giving their support to Scotland’s budget.

“This budget invests a record £15 billion in health and care services, delivers Scotland’s unique child payment to lift our youngest out of poverty, transfers £3 billion of social security spending, supports our efforts to tackle the climate crisis and the creation of a Scottish National Investment Bank.

“The Scottish Government had already backed Police Scotland with a budget increase of £42 million. We will now increase that support to £60 million overall with £50 million of investment for frontline services.

“And we will deliver in full the support Cosla and others have asked for with £95 million for local government.

“We have made significant investments to tackle the climate crisis, with funding for a green deal, low carbon travel and £1.8bn of low carbon infrastructure.

“I will also increase funding for walking, cycling and safer streets to £100 million for the first time and boost support for energy efficiency measures as part of our focus on reaching net-zero.

"When I presented the budget I said that every penny had been spent and that remains the case. In the absence of proposals to change spending, this additional investment will be funded through limited amounts of underspend, taking a multi-year approach to issues around non-domestic rates without impacting on local authority revenues, and additional consequentials from the fossil fuel levy.

"While this increases the financial exposure of the government it ensures that social security payments can be made and public services properly funded.”

In a tweet, Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “The Scottish Green MSPs always work hard to achieve positive change, and in recent weeks we've been working for a budget deal which responds to the #ClimateEmergency and protects local services.”

Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “Free bus travel for young people is a transformational step towards tackling the climate emergency. This scheme will benefit young people starting college and families, some of whom stand to save thousands of pounds a year, and encourage whole generations of public transport users.

“Buses are the backbone of local public transport and the key to employment and training opportunities for so many of those starting out in life.

“Yet again it’s the Scottish Greens who have engaged constructively in the budget process to deliver for communities in Scotland. Clearly, a Green budget would do even more to tackle the climate emergency, but securing this important free bus travel deal for the next generation builds on the powers we won for local councils to take control of local bus services. It is the Scottish Greens who are leading the change.

“And as we have done in every year we have struck a deal, the Greens have prioritised funding for local government, securing an additional £95m for libraries, schools and other local services.”

The Scottish Tories called the budget deal “shambolic”, and mocked the Greens for dropping their early demand to cancel new road projects. 

The Tories also queried the credibility of the concessionary bus scheme for young people, noting the Government had only committed to support it subject to further work. 

Finance spokesperson Donald Cameron said: “While some of the measures announced are to be welcomed, this budget still falls well short of what our economy and public services need.

“It’s no wonder that the SNP has yet again tricked the Greens into supporting the budget, which is now becoming an increasingly laughable and humiliating situation for Patrick Harvie.

“There’s no commitment to free bus travel for young people, as the Greens seem to naively think, and the Green party seems to have dropped almost every other demand it previously made.

“Unless the SNP government commits to no further divergence from UK tax rates and adds an extra £15.4m for drug rehabilitation beds, as well as properly resourcing the capital allocation to local authorities, we cannot support this budget.

“The vague suggestion of ‘reprofiling’ business rates will also set alarm bells ringing in Scotland’s business community, and is something the finance secretary will have to provide clarity on.

“Everyone knew the pro-independence parties would leap back into bed together when it mattered – but the main losers of this shambolic coupling are people who rely on public services and businesses who keep our economy going.”

Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said: “It is deeply disappointing to see the Scottish Green Party yet again sell our local councils, our environment and, indeed, themselves, short yet again.

“By kow-towing to Kate Forbes, the Greens have given the green light to the deep cuts faced by local government and have entirely abandoned their call for an end to further infrastructure construction.

“Most galling of all is the Green’s acceptance of a pale imitation of the call, led by Scottish Labour, for free bus travel for under 25’s by supporting the SNP’s promise to merely investigate the possibility of free bus travel for those under 18, meanwhile passenger numbers on public transport are plummeting.

“Just last week, the Greens’ Ross Greer said they would not support a budget unless it was a ‘climate emergency budget’. If this is a climate emergency budget, then I suggest Mr. Greer and his party reflect on their environmental credentials.

“As ever, it is the young people of Scotland, our local councils and the environment that will pay the price for the Greens 15 minutes of fame.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “Just like last year and the year before the Greens have capitulated to the SNP Government, conceding their headline demands yet again.

“This budget leaves the police with a shortfall of tens of millions of pounds and the hard-pressed service with real problems.

“Local government capital is cut by £117m from its need. All this is to protect the budget for an independence referendum that no one thinks is actually going to happen this year. Yet the Green Party and the SNP are still putting money aside for it. People will be baffled by those priorities.”

Gavin Thomson of Friends of the Earth Scotland said: “Scotland badly needs a shake-up in our transport system and, from the announcements so far, this budget agreement appears to represent a strong step in the right direction. 

“Expanding free bus travel to young people, and an increase in funding for walking and cycling is recognition that our priorities on transport must change.

“These positive changes could be easily funded by a halt to motorway expansion, on which we spend billions and only get more congestion and more emissions in return. 

“In a climate emergency you must stop doing the things that are making it worse. 

“Transport is our biggest polluter, making up 37% of Scotland’s climate emissions, so transformative action is desperately needed.

“Free bus travel for those aged 18 and under is a great start to changing this broken transport system. Young people should be able to use public transport as default, instead of needing to buy a car to get around. Many of our essential services are free-at-the-point-of-use and public transport should be no different. This needs to be coupled with measures to discourage car use, to reduce congestion, improve bus journey times and reliability, and persuade commuters from cars to speedy, affordable bus travel”.

David Lonsdale, Director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “Firms will breathe a sigh of relief that MSPs are set to pass a Budget in a timely fashion. 

“Whilst not perfect, there is much within the Budget that retailers can get behind, in particular those aspects which keep down the cost of doing business and cost of living, during what remains a challenging time for the retail industry in Scotland. 

“The below-inflation uplift in the poundage rate, the lifting of the threshold for the large business rates supplement, and the protection of ordinary taxpayers from rises in income tax rates, are very welcome and its encouraging that none of these measures have been diluted as a result of the accord with the Green Party.”