Scottish Youth Parliament makes history in Scottish Parliament
On Friday 29th of October over 100 Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) aged 14-25 made history as they provided evidence to the Public Petitions Committee in the first committee meeting held in the Scottish Parliament Chamber.
Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) took over the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament on Friday and Saturday for two days of topical debates and policy-making. The meeting also represented the first time the Public Petitions Committee has convened to receive petitions exclusively from young people.
The two petition topics presented were:
The Petitions Committee have committed to seeking further evidence from a range of stakeholders associated with both petitions and based on the evidence they receive will take further action on each of the subjects.
On Saturday 30th, the Scottish Youth Parliament also announced that the ‘Picture the Change’ youth consultation gained 42,804 responses over its three month consultation period, making it the biggest youth consultation of its kind.
These thousands of responses will directly inform the Scottish Youth Parliament’s 2011 Youth Manifesto which they will use to influence politicians and parties, engage young people with the political process and guide the exciting campaign work of the organisation over the next four years.
Derek Couper MSYP and SYP Chair aged 20 said:
“The manifesto encapsulates everything that the SYP strives for, so the consultation is crucial to our work, making sure that when we demand action we’re accurately representing the views and opinions of Scotland’s young people. Initially we had a target of 15,000 responses. We smashed that! It’s just amazing to have engaged with so many young people.”
The consultation was launched back in July outside the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood with the help of singer/songwriter Amy Macdonald and reached young Scots across the nation through a network of its members of the youth parliament (MSYPs).
Members of the SYP were active across Scotland securing responses from young people to the consultation, consulting at festivals, schools, colleges, youth groups, sports events, high streets, fresher’s fairs and more in order to gain a better understanding of what young people want to see change about their Scotland.
The consultation covered a variety of topical issues in areas such as Equalities; Rights & Citizenship, Scotland & the World, Learning & Working; Crime & Communities.
In the next few months the SYP will discuss the results of the consultation with parties, in order to influence their agendas, with the Manifesto to be launched in March 2011 in the run up to the Scottish Parliament elections.