Free bus pass scheme for young people: FOI release

Information requested

1) Were there target figures set by the Government and what were these figures? I’m particularly interested in when the Government expected to achieve total rollout, or was that never an expectation?

2) Given that the majority of applicants would have been school children, why didn’t the Government put in place a process for bus-pass applications to be submitted by schools/classes on behalf of their pupils? At the end of the day, if all children are entitled to one then surely group (rather than individual) applications would have generated a higher take-up. And then there would be an equality in say a class as everyone would get one.

3) I have a family member who works in a library and at launch time there was a distinct lack of documented procedures for library staff to deal with applications. Why was this not all in place prior to the libraries getting involved?

4) In a Herald newspaper report and also within a recent Scottish Television tweet, they talked about various things but neither helped the situation by mentioning Library involvement at a very local/community level. I have written a letter to the Herald (published) on this very subject.  Was there not a communications plan within this project? How was this scheme being advertised and through which specific channels?

5) The Scottish Labour party are quoted as saying this is a botched scheme and a missed opportunity. I don’t agree it’s a missed opportunity yet but if the Government don’t achieve a high response rate (say 95%) then it will be; yet it needn’t be so. I presume that there is still a lead project manager manging the rollout of this scheme? Can you confirm. If not, then who is ultimately responsible if the scheme doesn’t hit the targets?

6) Has feedback been received on the web-application service and has it been acted upon?

7) Have any changes been made to the Internet application process to simplify things?

8) What is your definition of “success” in terms of this project? Was this agreed with any particular stakeholders?I have answered each of your points below in turn.

Response

1) Were there target figures set by the Government and what were these figures? I’m particularly interested in when the Government expected to achieve total rollout, or was that never an expectation?

No specific targets were set for the uptake of the scheme.

Our intention is that the scheme achieves a long-term modal shift towards public transport use, and away from private car ownership and we are undertaking a evaluation of scheme which will assess the success of the scheme by comparing conditions at different stages.

The scheme is available to all those aged 5-21 across Scotland who are eligible to participate. As this scheme is the first of its kind, there are no direct comparisons or evidence for the long-term uptake of such a scheme. Therefore no specific targets for uptake have been set.

2) Given that the majority of applicants would have been school children, why didn’t the Government put in place a process for bus-pass applications to be submitted by schools/classes on behalf of their pupils? At the end of the day, if all children are entitled to one then surely group (rather than individual) applications would have generated a higher take-up. And then there would be an equality in say a class as everyone would get one.

The Young Person’s Free Bus Travel scheme is delivered on the National Entitlement Card (NEC), which is ultimately the responsibility of the Improvement Service. While Transport Scotland is responsible for the policy and some aspects of the operational delivery of the scheme (such as reimbursing bus operators), the application process, NEC renewals, NEC replacements and all other cardholder management is the responsibility of the Improvement Service (applications through getyournec.scot) and individual local councils (all other applications).

Local councils, should they choose, can organise bulk applications through schools for their residents. Our delivery partners at the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO) and the Improvement Service made the bulk application process available for local authorities to use from December 2021. It is for local authorities and their schools to determine whether this is a process they wish to use. Transport Scotland continue to encourage use of this process, with around 21 local councils currently doing so.

Please contact the Improvement Service or NECPO for more information about this process. You may also wish to contact your local council for more information about this process in your area.

3) I have a family member who works in a library and at launch time there was a distinct lack of documented procedures for library staff to deal with applications. Why was this not all in place prior to the libraries getting involved?

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because the Scottish Government is not responsible for coordinating the application process with local authorities. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.
We are aware that NECPO provided updated guidance to all local authorities in advance of the scheme launch and it is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure their staff are sufficiently trained or informed.

You may wish to contact the Improvement Service or NECPO who are responsible for this and will be able to help you.

4) In a Herald newspaper report and also within a recent Scottish Television tweet, they talked about various things but neither helped the situation by mentioning Library involvement at a very local/community level. I have written a letter to the Herald (published) on this very subject.  Was there not a communications plan within this project? How was this scheme being advertised and through which specific channels?

I can confirm that there is a marketing plan for the scheme.

In the run up to the scheme’s launch the overall public advice was to stay at home and avoid large groups. However, in recognition of the enormous benefits for young people that free bus travel could bring, we launched the scheme on 31 January as planned but focussed out messaging on young people with an essential need to travel.

With restrictions now eased, we are in a position to encourage all young people to apply and we intend to promote the scheme with a national marketing campaign in due course. This includes advertising across television, broadcast video on demand services, radio, and digital and social media channels.

We have already undertaken digital advertisements to promote the Transport Scot Pass Collect app, and undertaken extensive stakeholder communications activities to increase awareness of the scheme; including sharing our robust communications toolkit with over 300 organisations who directly engage with young people and their families, and launching freebus.scot - providing simplified information regarding the application process and additional resources to promote the scheme.

5) The Scottish Labour party are quoted as saying this is a botched scheme and a missed opportunity. I don’t agree it’s a missed opportunity yet but if the Government don’t achieve a high response rate (say 95%) then it will be; yet it needn’t be so. I presume that there is still a lead project manager manging the rollout of this scheme? Can you confirm. If not, then who is ultimately responsible if the scheme doesn’t hit the targets?

As outlined in section 4 of the scheme’s legislation, the scheme is to operate throughout Scotland and the Scottish Ministers must administer the scheme. Transport Scotland administer the scheme on their behalf. The Improvement Service and local authorities administer the application and card management process for the National Entitlement Card scheme, with operational support from NECPO.

As outlined in response to Q1, there are no specific targets for the scheme.

6) Has feedback been received on the web-application service and has it been acted upon?

We are aware that feedback on getyournec.scot has been received by the Improvement Service.

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for as the Scottish Government is not responsible for getyournec.scot and therefore cannot confirm if feedback received has been directly acted upon by the Improvement Service. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

You may wish to contact the Improvement Service for further detail on this point.

7) Have any changes been made to the Internet application process to simplify things?

We are aware that the Improvement Service have made a number of changes to getyournec.scot since its launch, such as expanding the range of proofs accepted, and launching a new version of the site.

You may wish to contact the Improvement Service for a full list of the changes made to the site.

8) What is your definition of “success” in terms of this project? Was this agreed with any particular stakeholders?

Transport Scotland are undertaking an evaluation of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme. The overall aim of the evaluation is to assess whether the scheme is working as expected in achieving its
objectives and benefits, and to monitor any potential negative impacts of the scheme on other policy aims and other modes of transport.

The intended outcomes from this scheme are to:

• embed positive sustainable travel behaviours,
• open up social, education, employment and leisure opportunities; and,
• reduce household outgoings to aid young people and their families, particularly those living in poverty.

The evaluation will assess the success of the scheme by comparing conditions at intervals of 6 months; 1 year, 3 years and 5 years after project implementation. This will enable us to assess the short and medium outcomes and long term impact.

An Evaluation Advisory Group with representatives from stakeholder organisations - Young Scot, the Improvement Service, NECPO - is in place to provide input and expertise from outwith the Scottish Government. The measures of success (outcomes) were designed in collaboration with the Evaluation Advisory Group.

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.