EXCLUSIVE: The Nationalist executive is running a three-month pilot allowing migrants to travel across the country but the cost to the public purse has been high
The scheme lets asylum seekers board busses for free(Image: Getty)
Providing free bus travel to asylum seekers in Scotland would cost taxpayers millions of pounds a year, it has emerged, as a pilot scheme comes to an end. The SNP executive has been testing a programme that lets some migrants travel across the country free of charge.
Applications for the pilot closed earlier this week, while it will come to an end at the end of the month. But the cost to the public purse has already been considerable.
A Freedom of Information request suggests that between the launch of the pilot on December 1, and March 3, the government had forked out £610,834. Replicated over a year, that would cost Scotland almost £2.5 million – enough money to cover the average salary of around 30 doctors on the hard-pressed NHS.
The spend was blasted by the Scottish Conservatives, who obtained the information. The party’s transport spokeswoman Sue Webber said: “Hard-pressed Scottish taxpayers will be dismayed that large sums of their money are being spent on free bus travel for illegal immigrants.
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“This fanciful scheme, cooked up by the Scottish Greens and rubber-stamped by the SNP, is a blatant waste of public money, when asylum seekers already enjoy free accommodation and transport courtesy of the taxpayer.
“Scots expect their cash to go towards our ailing NHS and broken schools – not virtue-signalling nonsense like this. The cosy left-wing consensus at Holyrood refuse to call out this wasteful spending. You can’t put a cigarette paper between Labour and the SNP when it comes to these issues.”
Scottish Conservative transport spokeswoman Sue Webber
According to the FoI request, the Scottish Government received reimbursement claims of £581,605 from bus operators. A further £27,592 was paid to Glasgow City Council for costs associated with the processing and administration of the pilot.
The city has become the asylum capital of the UK as migrant look to take advantage of relaxed housing rules. Ministers also spent £1,637 translating forms and guidance associated with the scheme into 10 different languages.
Free bus travel for asylum seekers was first proposed by the Scottish Greens as part of the Bute House Agreement and taken forward by Humza Yousaf in the Nats’ New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy in 2024. However, ministers were forced to put it on hold amid huge budget cuts.
A non-binding vote at Holyrood in October 2024 saw MSPs back the return of the policy, with Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop pledging to reintroduce the scheme, despite Tory pleas for the cash to ease the financial burden on pensioners amid soaring energy bills. The SNP has already spent millions of pounds on free bus passes for those under the age of 22, a policy that has been linked to a rise in anti-social behaviour.
The Scottish Refugee Council said free travel was needed to allow asylum seekers, who cannot work while their application is processed, access to medical and legal appointments, as well as language lessons and volunteering projects.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “Bus travel has the potential to be transformative for people seeking asylum, who are among the most vulnerable in society. The pilot scheme is providing important evidence of the effect of free bus travel in helping people seeking asylum to access essential services and integrate into society.”