Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie then unveiled a £2m fund for a scheme in October 2023 when he was a junior minister in the Scottish Government with the First Minister Humza Yousaf confirming the scheme the following month.

But the policy was dropped by Mr Yousaf’s successor John Swinney‘s government in August last year with ministers citing “very difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans”.

However, the promise to extend free bus travel – already given to the under 22s and over 60s – was then brought back in December in the budget by finance secretary Shona Robison.

Read More: 

Setting out its plans for the 2025 to 26 financial year, the document, published on December 4 last year, stated: “We will extend free bus travel to asylum seekers.” Details of a new pilot were then given in February. 

However, a pilot scheme has yet to be introduced. Ministers say a working group has been established and it is planned the pilot will get underway this autumn.

This ongoing situation was revealed in a written parliamentary answer following a question by Alba MSP Ash Regan.

Alba Party MSP Ash Regan (Image: PA) Ms Regan last month asked the Scottish Government for an update on the matter, including what progress had been made on its delivery, how many asylum seekers have accessed free bus travel through the £2m scheme to date.

In a written answer minister for agriculture and connectivity Jim Fairlie revealed the pilot was yet to begin.

“The 2025-26 Scottish Budget, which was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 25 February, has funding allocated to provide free bus travel for people seeking asylum. My officials have reconvened the working group with third sector representatives and other interested parties to work through delivery options for a pilot scheme this financial year,” he stated.

“The pilot will provide free bus travel for those people seeking asylum who are not eligible for the existing statutory free bus travel schemes. It is anticipated that the pilot will commence in the autumn. Delivery of the pilot will be monitored and an evaluation carried out to determine demand, costs and potential benefits of free bus travel to people seeking asylum in Scotland.

“People seeking asylum in Scotland who are aged under 22, aged 60 or over or have an eligible disability are already entitled to concessionary travel through the existing national concessionary travel schemes.”

Ms Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, told The Herald:  “The Scottish Government announced £2m for free bus travel for asylum seekers in this year’s budget, yet did not make clear that the pilot scheme won’t even begin until halfway through the financial year.

“Budget headlines with woolly delivery commitments create false perceptions and erode public trust. Taxpayers deserve honesty and transparency in how public money is spent and what value it achieves.

“The Government did not initially support free bus travel for asylum seekers who didn’t currently qualify for free bus travel under the 22s or over 60 national entitlement, yet announced a £2m pilot in the budget in February.

“Backlash to asylum seekers has worryingly increased tensions in some communities, due to a lack of competence, leadership and clarity on sustainable immigration policy. Yet any negative fuel the perception of this announced free travel policy may have added to this tension is against a backdrop of reality that, six months into the financial year, not a single free journey has been delivered by it.

“People will rightly ask: what is the point of announcing headline commitments if it is not made clear that the schemes cannot be implemented for months? The continued vagueness of commitment to this pilot in “autumn” only serves to illustrate the lack of transparency from the government.

“If the government is serious about building confidence in public spending, it must stop just making headline announcements and provide precise details about costs, timescales, uptake and evaluation from day one.”

Read More:

After the Scottish Government announced plans last December to bring in free bus travel for asylum seekers, the Scottish Conservatives led a debate calling for the proposal to be dropped. They argued it was an irresponsible use of public funds given other challenges, like pensioners losing winter fuel payments.

MSP Jamie Greene later told The Herald it was the first major issue which led to him defecting from the Scottish Conservatives to the Lib Dems in April this year.

He said he avoided the Tory-led debate by making arrangements with his party whip not to vote.

“I was very unhappy about the motion about the removal of bus passes for asylum seekers. I understood the logic behind the arguments and I was sympathetic to the idea of how we best use public money,” he told The Herald in April.

“But what it was doing was pitching one vulnerable group in society refugees and migrants against another, older people struggling to pay their bills.

“Two unrelated groups. A party decision was made to lump those two together and say ‘we”ll rob Peter to pay Paul. And what that does is pit one vulnerable group against another. And I’d never be happy about that narrative. That was the first one.”

Holyrood‘s equalities, human rights and civil justice committee heard evidence on proposals to improve the ayslum system in Scotland last year.

As a result, MSPs on the committee urged the Scottish Parliament to sanction concessionary bus travel for asylum seekers.

People in the asylum system are unable to work under UK employment law. Westminster provides £49.18 per week for people in un-catered accommodation, while those in hotels get £8.86 per week.

Transport Scotland has been approached for comment.