Scottish government delivers ‘masterclass’ in incompetence over removal of free bus passes from louts

Connectivity minister Jim Fairlie was supposed to introduce secondary legislation on Tuesday but admitted that officials had not completed regulations robust enough to proceed. As a result, the measures are now unlikely to be implemented before the Holyrood election in May.

The Scottish government had previously said the policy was a priority for First Minister John Swinney, following mounting concern over serious incidents on bus services involving under-22s travelling for free. These have included assaults on staff and wider criminal behaviour linked to misuse of the concessionary scheme.

In February 2024, bus driver Keith Rollinson was killed by a drunk 15-year-old boy who had been refused entry to a bus at Elgin Bus Station. Under current rules, the teenager will be eligible to have his free bus pass returned when he is released from custody – later this year.

In November, Mr Fairlie told MSPs that ministers were “determined to address” antisocial behaviour on the bus network. He said work was under way on a behavioural code, impact assessments and a suspension process, with secondary legislation expected to be laid before parliament in early December.

However, giving evidence to a Holyrood committee this week, he confirmed that the timetable had slipped once again, conceding that the necessary regulations were not yet ready.

He apologised to MSPs and said: “What we have is an opportunity to make sure we provide security for the bus sector who have asked us to give them the tools and the security that they want to be able to remove concessionary travel from someone who is consistently or damagingly creating anti-social behaviour.”

He did not move the secondary instrument and also failed to provide the draft guidance to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, stating: “I don’t want to move this amendment if I don’t have the committee’s support, and I am concerned that the way the debate went this morning that that is what the committee is minded to do.

“What I do not want to do is lay this motion today, and to have to go through this whole process again. I think that’s wrong for the stakeholders and wrong for the parliament. I think it would be the wrong thing to do. However, I’m extremely concerned that the committee won’t pass this SSI that has been asked for, so in that case I won’t move it.”

Scottish Conservative shadow transport secretary Sue Webber said: “Jim Fairlie’s performance at committee was a masterclass in SNP incompetence. After boasting before Christmas about his plans to properly punish anti-social behaviour on Scotland’s buses, it looks as though he’s been asleep at the wheel ever since.

“His failure to do his homework means there will now be further delays to removing free bus passes from young people who misbehave and in some cases with devastating consequences. The tragic death of Keith Rollinson in Elgin shows the deadly price of failing to crack down on these thugs.

“Bus drivers and passengers can ill-afford to wait until this SNP minister gets his act together. He should apologise for this shambles and ensure free bus passes are immediately removed from those who break the rules.”