Budget: Greens call for free school meals and bus fare cap
The Scottish Government must deliver bold action to cut the cost of living if their budget is to gain the support of the Scottish Greens, says the party’s finance spokesperson Ross Greer.
Speaking ahead of the publication of this year’s budget, Mr Greer called for the SNP to back the Scottish Greens’ key proposals of a £2 cap on bus fares and the rollout of free school meals to all P6 and P7 pupils.
Mr Greer said: “This budget is John Swinney’s chance to show the kind of Scotland he wants to build. If it is a fairer and greener Scotland, Green MSPs will be willing to work constructively with him to see it passed.
“Scotland is one of the richest countries in the history of our planet. It's shocking and entirely avoidable that so many children still live in poverty and come to school hungry. The Scottish Greens have already secured the rollout of universal free school meals to all P4 and P5 pupils, and a wipeout of all school meal debt held by struggling families. Now we want to go further. In September the SNP dropped our previous shared commitment to expand free school meals to P6 and P7. We want to see that decision reversed and a commitment in the budget to deliver those meals.
“One of the most important schemes already delivered by the Scottish Greens is free bus travel for everyone under 22. It has seen 730,000 young people taking 140 million free bus journeys since it was introduced two years ago.
“To protect the planet and help families with the cost of living, we need to make buses more affordable. That is why we have proposed trialling a £2 bus fare cap for services across Scotland from next year.
“When the Scottish Greens removed peak rail fares we got more people onto our trains and saved commuters hundreds or even thousands of pounds. Sadly the SNP have since reintroduced those peak fares. We will argue for their removal once again but we also want to see a bus fare cap, making Scotland’s most popular form of public transport much more affordable.
“These are the kind of bold, ambitious and practical changes that the First Minister could make to undo the damage being inflicted by Westminster and build a fairer, greener Scotland. If he takes these steps on Wednesday, the Scottish Greens will work with him to agree a final budget proposal early in the new year.”