Chamber and committees

As I have set out in my statement to Parliament earlier today, we intend to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill in Year 5 of this Parliamentary session. In this statement I set out government’s rationale for the format of the Bill. We will continue to engage with stakeholders from all sectors as we do so, building on the discussions that began with our consultation and have been continuing since then.

The Scottish Government welcomes the valuable contribution that international students make to our society, culture, and economy. Our commitment to Scotland's universities is demonstrated through our long-term commitment to Scotland’s universities, investing over £1 billion every year in the sector since 2012/13. This is continued in the 2025-26 budget which provides over £1.1bn of investment in teaching and research in Scotland’s universities.

As I have set out in my statement to Parliament earlier today, we intend to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill in Year 5 of this Parliamentary session.

The final decision on the provisions of the Bill will be made collectively by Cabinet ahead of its introduction. This decision will take account of the analysis of responses received in reply to our public consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill, but it is our strong intention that this Bill will help build the investment case for new district heating projects in Heat Network Zones.

As I have set out in my statement to Parliament earlier today, we intend to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill in Year 5 of this Parliamentary session. The consultation on the Bill included a range of proposals regarding the use of waste heat by heat networks. The final decision on the provisions of the Bill will be made collectively by Cabinet ahead of its introduction.

The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) guidance is revised annually to set guidelines for local authorities and colleges to deliver the programme effectively and fairly; whilst using their own discretion in line with both local and national policy. It encourages flexibility in the local administration arrangements for vulnerable young people including those experiencing homelessness.

As part of the annual budget process the funding for the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), is announced. The 2025-26 Budget includes over £1.1bn of investment in teaching and research in Scotland’s universities.

The Scottish Government shared its response to the Shelter Scotland report, In Their Own Words: Children’s Experiences in Temporary Accommodation with the Scottish Parliament on 4 March 2025. Parliamentary Question S6T-02391 refers, which can be accessed via the following link: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6T-02391.

The legal duty to accommodate homeless households and the responsibility for ensuring that temporary accommodation is of a suitable standard lies with local authorities. When making their housing allocation decisions, local authorities are encouraged to take a children’s right approach and are expected to consider the Scottish Government’s statutory guidance on meeting the best interests of children facing homelessness: https://www.gov.scot/publications/best-interests-of-children-facing-homelessness/.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2024 expects public authorities to do all they can to implement and uphold children’s rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The Scottish Government is supporting public authorities to understand and fulfil their UNCRC duties and take a children’s human rights approach in the design and delivery of services.

We are also funding the Improvement Service to assist local authorities and their partners to successfully implement the UNCRC at a local level, and NHS Education Scotland to support health boards to fulfil their UNCRC duties.

The Scottish Government published the temporary accommodation standards framework in 2023. The framework sets out the physical, location, service and management standards to ensure that temporary accommodation is of good quality, is safe, warm and affordable, and provides the household with an adequate standard of living, including provision of space for children to play.

Most households with children are placed in suitable temporary accommodation in the social rented sector. However, the Unsuitable Accommodation Order (UAO) was extended in 2020 to ensure that no homeless household has to stay in unsuitable accommodation, such as hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation, for more than seven days.

The service standards in the temporary accommodation standards framework states that local authorities should assess the needs of all members of the household to provide services. These should be followed up with referrals and support to enable the household to engage with the relevant housing, health, education, social care service and independent advice services.

The temporary accommodation standards framework also states that local authorities should offer support to enable households to access information and appropriate services, including counselling, substance use, mental health, domestic abuse, medical, dental, optical and money/welfare advice services.

The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) supports the Scottish Government, local authorities and other public bodies to fulfil their legal obligations to promote and protect the human rights of children and young people. The SYP is the democratic voice of Scotland’s young people. Their vision for Scotland is of a nation that actively listens to and values the meaningful participation of its young people. Their goal is to make this vision a reality, in order to ensure young people in Scotland grow up loved, safe and respected, and able to realise their full potential.

This PQ was submitted along with another 10 all regarding the SYP.

The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) have their annual accounts published on the Companies House website. These provide a breakdown of money received from the Scottish Government from 2020 – 24.

SCOTTISH YOUTH PARLIAMENT filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK

The 2024-25 annual accounts will be available on the Companies House website in due course, following the end of the financial year. However, as these are currently not available, the Scottish Government currently expects to provide SYP with funding totalling £430,339.68 in 2024-25 (subject to relevant financial controls).

As part of Scottish Government’s grant conditions, all funded organisations are required to monitor and report their progress towards delivery of their funding outcomes to ensure appropriate use of public funds and value for money.

Since the Children, Young People, Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) third sector fund was launched in 2016, the Scottish Government has provided SYP with £1.7 million in core funding. The breakdown of this funding over the last five years is as follows: 2020-21 - £324,188; 2021-22 - £324,188; 2022-23 - £341,250; 2023-24 - £341,250; 2024-25 - £341,250 (included in the total above).

Most recent information suggests SYP is on track to meet the agreed outcomes by the end of 2024-25. The CYPFEI & ALEC fund is administered by the Corra Foundation. Corra has indicated, through their annual formal grant review processes and monitoring, that SYP has demonstrated good progress towards their agreed objectives on an annual basis. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35662 on 2 April 2025 for further information on Corra’s feedback. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) supports the Scottish Government, local authorities and other public bodies to fulfil their legal obligations to promote and protect the human rights of children and young people. The SYP is the democratic voice of Scotland’s young people. Their vision for Scotland is of a nation that actively listens to and values the meaningful participation of its young people. Their goal is to make this vision a reality, in order to ensure young people in Scotland grow up loved, safe and respected, and able to realise their full potential.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that children and young people are at the heart of decisions which affect them. The Scottish Government engage with a variety of stakeholders, one being the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP), to ensure there are numerous mechanisms and channels that support the voices of children and young people being considered in decision making processes. SYP is an important stakeholder as they ensure young people are actively engaged in policy-making.

SYP is also one of nine organisations to be appointed to the Children and Young People Participation Framework Agreement. The Framework Agreement was developed, through a robust procurement process that required organisations to demonstrate their experience and expertise in meaningful engagement with young people including the scope, reach, and impact of their work, to ensure policy teams could engage more effectively and meaningfully with children and young people in their decision making.

SYP receive core funding from the Scottish Government via the Children, Young People, Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) which is administered by the independent grant making charity, Corra Foundation. The annual feedback from Corra indicates the work being delivered by SYP to be of a high standard and that they are achieving their outcomes, one of which is: to provide a national platform for young people to discuss the issues that are important to them, and campaign for changes to the nation that they live in. Corra have robust grant management and evaluation measures in place. Funding is provided based on positive evaluations and assessment.

The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) supports the Scottish Government, local authorities and other public bodies to fulfil their legal obligations to promote and protect the human rights of children and young people. The SYP is the democratic voice of Scotland’s young people. Their vision for Scotland is of a nation that actively listens to and values the meaningful participation of its young people. Their goal is to make this vision a reality, in order to ensure young people in Scotland grow up loved, safe and respected, and able to realise their full potential.

The Scottish Government engages with a range of organisations when making policy decisions. This ensures policies are representative, and rooted in collaboration, delivery and outcomes.

It is therefore not possible to directly attribute and quantify influence on decisions to any one organisation.

However, it is important to acknowledge that over the years, the Scottish Youth Parliament’s (SYP) campaigning work has contributed to a number of changes to public policy, including:

Votes at 16 in Scottish elections

Equal Marriage

Protection of children from assault

Provision of counselling services in secondary schools

Incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law

Free bus travel for under 21s

Alongside the Children’s Parliament, the SYP plays a key role in the annual Cabinet and Executive Takeover meetings. First launched in 2014, these meetings with the Scottish Cabinet, and more latterly with the Scottish Government Executive Team, bring together decision makers at the highest level of government and children and young people. At each meeting the children and young people highlight and discuss their Calls to Action: tangible commitments to be taken forward by the Scottish Government.

A report from 2023 providing information on how the SYP’s contribution at earlier meetings has influenced policy can be found here: Children and young people's voices matter: progress report - March 2023 - gov.scot.