Updated and Improved National Entitlement Card for Older People Due to be Introduced Autumn 2016

Click on image to enlarge

If you are over 60 years old and your card has the OneScotland logo, a new style card will automatically be sent to your registered address before your current one expires. You don’t need to do anything.

Your current card may not be due to expire for several months however, new cards are being sent to everyone in advance of this and you should destroy any old bus passes now to avoid confusion.

The new style card has the mygovscot logo – replacing the One Scotland logo - see illustrations

You will notice that the new style over 60s card no longer has a valid to date. This means it is now a card for life. Cards issued on the grounds of disability will continue to display a “valid to” date.

If your current card has the mygovscot logo, then you already have the new card and will not need a replacement.

Card replacements
Please check that the photograph and personal details on your new card are correct.  If any are not, or if this card is for someone who is no longer at the address, telephone the number on the back of the card to report this. When you receive your new card you need to start using it immediately and destroy any old cards you have.

Commenting on the Potential Designation of 20 mph Zones in Broughty Ferry

Earlier this week the Scottish Government published a Good Practice Guide on 20 mph Speed Restrictions. This was written in conjunction with the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS), The guidance aims to provide clarity on the options available to local authorities and thereby aid greater consistency on setting 20 mph speed restrictions throughout Scotland, while encouraging local authorities to introduce them near schools, in residential areas and in other areas of our towns and cities where there is a significant volume of pedestrian or cyclist activity.

Last year, at a Council Meeting, I supported  a motion that would have led to a public consultation on which residential streets in the city might be suitable for designation as 20 mph zones. This was defeated at that occasion but I think it merits reconsideration. 

Over the last month, I have been recovering from a hip replacement and initially I was venturing out around The Ferry with the help of two walking sticks.  That certainly brought home to me the challenge of crossing the road when your speed of walking is restricted and traffic is moving fast.

I have been approached by a number of groups of residents in The Ferry who would support 20 mph zones in their area. For example, the Ferryfields Residents' Association requested this in their estate, in the interests of child safety. They would also point out that the speed bumps are already in place on Strathyre Avenue so that apart from the new 20 mph speed limit signs, there would be minimal cost to the Council to make this change in their area. 

Residents in Camphill Road and Hill Street and connecting streets had a meeting with me last year about road safety concerns, especially on the narrow and twisting section of Camphill Road between Queen Street and Panmure Street which they thought was an accident waiting to happen. Many of those residents thought that a 20 mph speed limit would help. 

Forthill Drive and Forthill Place, which is predominantly sheltered housing with narrow roads is another area where I think a 20 mph zone merits consideration.

To take this forward, I think, this matter should be delegated to the eight Local Community Planning Planning Partnerships to consult with residents in their areas to come up with proposals for 20 mph zones in residential streets.

I hope that now this national guidance has been published, the Director of City Development in Dundee will be more sympathetic to supporting a public consultation about this.

Stop The Great SNP Train Robbery Including the End of Sleeper and Direct Cross Border Trains From Dundee

The SNP government has just published a plan for the future of Scotland’s railways. 


But instead of getting a better deal for the public, the ideas they have put forward include:

• cancelling the sleeper service
• stopping cross border trains that go to beyond Edinburgh, so there are no direct trains from Dundee, Motherwell, Perth, Inverness, Aberdeen to London or anywhere south of the border
• splitting off the more profitable parts of the ScotRail network
• increasing the cost of peak time tickets
• longer journey times to “improve” punctuality – but with fewer trains
• changes on capacity which could result in overcrowding, being told to wait for the next train, or standing the whole journey

This isn't a serious plan for the future of Scotland's railways. It would have a negative effect in Dundee by removing our direct rail and sleeper services to London. This would not only be inconvenient to rail travelers having to make more changes on their long distance journeys but also have a negative effect on the local economy.


That is why today Scottish Labour has launched a campaign to save Scotland’s railways. We have launched an online petition with a target to get 50,000 signatures opposing these plans.

Last time the SNP floated such crazy transport ideas – charging cyclists for using the pavements – they were thrown out by sheer weight of public opinion.

Labour will be campaigning on the side of Scottish passengers, not on the side of the big train companies.


To register your opposition to this plan and to demand the government in Holyrood think again add your support to our online petition.