The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) is a youth-led, democratic organisation which aims to represent the young people of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The SYP is made up of around 166 democratically-elected representatives aged 14–25 from across Scotland. Representatives are known as Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs). The SYP uses the Scottish Parliamentary constituency structure to elect its members, with elections generally taking place every two years - every constituency area elects two MSYPs using the

Single Transferable Vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

electoral system. Over 71,000 votes were cast in the 2019 SYP elections. Around 22 MSYPs represent Voluntary Organisations such as The Boys Brigade, Scouts Scotland, LGBT Youth Scotland and Haggeye instead of constituencies. These MSYPs are directly elected by the Organisations they represent. The SYP meets three times a year at events called sittings. These usually take place in different Scottish Local Authorities, but have been online since early 2020 due to COVID-19. The four core values of the SYP are rights, democracy, inclusion and political impartiality. SYP is non-party political, which means MSYPs do not organise themselves along party lines within the Youth Parliament. All MSYPs essentially sit as independents to avoid partisan politics interfering with their representation of young people.

Campaigns

The SYP campaigns on various issues which affect Scotland's young people. It has been an advocate for

Votes at 16 Votes at 16 is a campaign in the United Kingdom which argues in favour of the reduction of the voting age to 16 for all public elections. The campaign espouses several principles in favour of lowering the voting age. Votes at 16 Coalition The ...

since its inception in 1999 and has campaigned for it ever since, notably ensuring that Young People aged 16 and 17 could vote in the Referendum on Scottish Independence in 2014. SYP has campaigned on a range of issues: from its campaign to achieve Equal Marriage – Love Equally - to their Young Carers Campaign – Care. Fair. Share. SYP's 2017-18 campaign - Right Here Right Now - centred on improving the protection of young people's rights in Scotland, and was successful in securing a commitment from the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) would be incorporated into Scots Law. The Scottish Youth Parliament's 2018–2019 campaign was "All Aboard", which sought to improve young people's experiences of public transport in Scotland. At the July 2019 Sitting of the Scottish Youth Parliament, MSYPs choose environmental protection and climate change as their next national campaign. The campaign was named "Pack it Up, Pack it In", and was formally launched in October 2019. In October 2020, it was decided by the organisation that the next national campaign will focus on a rights-based approach to the COVID-19 Pandemic recovery in Scotland. This campaign was titled 'Bounce Back'.

Governance

The Board are responsible for the strategic direction of the organisation and are officially the charity's legal custodians. The charity is supported by a Staff Team of 10. The current Chief Executive Officer and company general secretary is Ben McKendrick. The current Deputy Chief Executive Officer is Jamie Dunlop. As the organisation is youth-led the chair, vice-chair and trustees are young people. They are democratically elected during SYP's Annual General Meeting by the membership of that term. The Current Chair is Sophie Reid MSYP, and the current Vice-Chair is Mollie McGoran MSYP. The board of trustees consists of the Chair, Vice-Chair, and; Crisantos Ike MSYP, Abbie Wright MSYP, Emma Prach MSYP, Gavin Stewart MSYP, Ellie Craig MSYP, and Olivia Brown MSYP.

History

The group has previously held meetings in the General Assembly Rooms (former temporary home of the Scottish Parliament) in Edinburgh) and also within the new Scottish Parliament building., most recently in 2017.

Partner organisations

The Scottish Youth Parliament works in partnership with many other organisations, including: * The Scottish Government * The Scottish Parliament and its members * Scottish local authorities *

UK Youth Parliament The UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, consisting of democratically elected members aged between 11 and 18. Formed in 2000, the parliament has 369 members, who are elected to represent the views of youn ...

* Welsh Youth Parliament * Children and Young People's Commissioner for Scotland * YouthLink Scotland *

Young Scot Young Scot is a national information and citizenship organisation supported by the Scottish Government for young people aged 11–25 in Scotland. The declared aim of the organisation is to make young people informed, incentivised and active ci ...

* Together: The Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights * Highland Youth Voice *

British Youth Council The British Youth Council, known informally as BYC, is a UK charity that works to empower young people and promote their interests. The national charity, run by young people, exists to represent the views of young people to government and decisi ...

Chairs

The Chair of SYP is elected, usually annually, by MSYPs. A normal term of service is twelve months, although some Chairs have served for longer periods of time for reasons such as a delay in the SYP elections, and some for shorter periods of time for reasons such as resignation. The Chair of SYP is a voluntary position and is unpaid. The Chair convenes and facilitates meetings of the Board and the full Scottish Youth Parliament. They are the primary ambassador of SYP to the public. There have, to date, been 20 Chairs of SYP since 2000.

Chief Executive Officers

Alumni

Ross Greer, Green MSP for the West of Scotland and the youngest MSP ever elected to the Scottish Parliament (2016–present), is a former MSYP. Danielle Rowley, former Labour MP for Midlothian (2017–19), is a former MSYP.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Youth empowerment organizations 1999 establishments in Scotland Politics of Scotland Youth organisations based in Scotland Youth-led organizations Youth model government Political organisations based in the United Kingdom