Swinney caps west Scotland bus fares at £2
First Minister John Swinney announces a £2 cap on single bus fares in six western Scottish council areas, effective from Monday.
Bus fares in the west of Scotland will be capped at £2 per single journey. First Minister John Swinney announced the measure, which takes effect from Monday morning for services in Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and Inverclyde.
The policy fulfills part of an SNP manifesto pledge. The party aims to cut the cost of bus travel to £2 for every single fare across the entire country by the end of the current parliamentary term. A similar fare cap is already operational in the Highlands and Islands region. Swinney did not provide a specific date for when the £2 cap would be extended to the rest of Scotland.
Wider government programme
The bus fare announcement was made as part of Swinney's first programme for government in the seventh session of the Scottish Parliament. This programme outlines the government's policy and legislative goals. He stated his plans intended to deliver real, lasting improvements to people's lives. Swinney vowed to rewire a system of services designed for the last century.
"By rewiring a system of services designed for the last century, we will simplify and reshape organisations on which everyone relies," Swinney said. He promised to build on the most generous cost of living package anywhere in the UK while continuing to tackle inequality, poverty and division.
NHS restructuring plans
A major component of the programme is a proposed restructuring of the National Health Service. Swinney confirmed plans to reduce Scotland's 14 regional health boards to just two. He described this as the most significant structural reform in the NHS in the era of devolution.
The reform would split the country into eastern and western divisions. The chief executives of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian would take the lead. Work on this proposal began last November. The government stated the move is intended to free up more time and capacity for patient treatment. It remains unclear whether the new structure will result in financial savings through cutting senior roles or streamlining departments.
Swinney also set a new waiting time target. He vowed that by 2031, no patient will wait longer than 26 weeks for the treatment they need. This appears to be a downgrade from a 2011 promise that patients should not wait longer than 12 weeks for inpatient or day-case treatment after diagnosis.
Political and union reaction
The proposed NHS reforms faced immediate criticism from opposition parties and a major trade union. The trade union Unite branded the plan a slash and burn programme for the NHS. Union general secretary Sharon Graham warned the measures would inevitably result in swingeing cuts and thousands of job losses across the public sector, as she warned that workers will not be the collateral damage for the Scottish government's failings.
Scottish Labour's acting leader, Jackie Baillie, expressed doubt that two mainland health boards would be sufficient. She called for a specific board covering the Highlands and north east. Baillie accused the SNP of promising the world but delivering nothing but failure for the health service, adding that Scotland's patients deserve so much better.
The Scottish Greens were critical of both the bus fares plan and the NHS reforms. The party's health spokesperson called for reassurances that there would be no compulsory redundancies of NHS staff. The party argued that scrapping regional health boards would cause significant concern among patients and staff and that free bus travel should have been expanded to everyone, suggesting the £2 cap did not go far enough.
Reform UK's Scotland leader, Malcolm Offord, dismissed Swinney's pledges as the same old empty promises, rebranded. He criticised several other plans, including GP walk-in clinics, food price caps and the welcome to school bag for primary one pupils, as gimmicks rather than genuine reforms.
Additional legislative plans
Other key announcements included the reintroduction of a misogyny bill. This proposal was dropped in May last year because the government said it did not have time to draft the legislation to reflect the Supreme Court judgement on the definition of a woman before the Holyrood election. Swinney said he would provide the personal leadership required to tackle the epidemic of male violence against women and girls. He announced a public health campaign aimed at challenging misogynistic attitudes in boys and young men.
