§ Mr. David MarshallTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce a Scottish-wide free travel concession scheme for registered blind people; and if he will make a statement. [40032]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonIn the light of representations made by organisations for the blind and disabled, my right hon. Friend last year sought the views of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities about the possibility of COSLA either organising a national scheme for the blind and disabled, or alternatively a scheme which was restricted in scope to blind people only. COSLA has now established a task group to investigate the practicalities and costs of introducing a national scheme for the blind in the first instance. The task group has undertaken to inform the Scottish Office of its findings and we await its conclusions.