asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the annual cost to each region and island authority of providing pupils with free bus travel to and from school.
The information available does not distinguish between modes of travel. The provisional outturn of expenditure for 1977–78 on all travel between home and school is as follows:
| £ At Outturn Prices | |
| Borders | 537,597 |
| Central | 702,184 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 721,733 |
| Fife | 663,000 |
| Grampian | 1,683,703 |
| Highland | 1,061,298 |
| Lothian | 1,594,646 |
| Strathclyde | 4,852,289 |
| Tayside | 943,848 |
| Orkney | 204,065 |
| Shetland | 213,000 |
| Western Isles | 251,490 |
| Total Scotland | 13,428,853 |
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the distance beyond which pupils are entitled to free bus travel to and from school in each region and island authority in Scotland.
The statutory walking distances are over two miles for children under the age of 8 and over three miles for all other children. The following authorities have exercised their discretion to reduce these limits to the extent shown:
| Under 8 | Over 8 | |||
| Fife | … | … | 2 | 2 |
| Lothian | … | … | 2 | 2 |
| All primary | All seconddry | ||
| Strathclyde | … | 1 | 2 |
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many pupils receive free bus travel to and from school in each region and island authority area.
The information is as follows:
| Borders | … | … | 6,000 |
| Central | … | … | 12,000 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | … | 15,000 | |
| Fife | … | … | 13,000 |
| Grampian | … | … | 24,000 |
| Highland | … | … | 10,000 |
| Lothian | … | … | 21,000 |
| Strathclyde | … | … | 82,000 |
| Tayside | … | … | 8,000 |
| Orkney | … | … | 2,000 |
| Shetland | … | … | 2,000 |
| Western Isles | … | … | 2,000 |
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received requesting Government action to provide all children with free travel to school; and, in the light of the wide support for this measure, if he will now make a statement on Government policy on the subject.
My right hon. Friend has received no recent representations in this behalf and he has no proposals under consideration at present to alter the existing arrangements for home to school transport.