Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has created a webpage on www.gov.scot dedicated to documents relating to Ferguson Marine (https://www.gov.scot/collections/ferguson-marine-documents/). This webpage contains links to consultancy documents produced when Ferguson Marine became a state-owned shipyard in 2019 and the ‘Ferguson Marine: Commercial advice information pack’ which was published in February 2025.

Universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own pay and remuneration decisions.

The Framework Agreement that exists between the Scottish Government and Ferguson Marine sets out the relationship between the business and Scottish ministers, including matters requiring Scottish Government approval such as the appointment of the Chair, the Board of Directors and approval of the remuneration of the chief executive officer.

Since the nationalisation of Ferguson Marine ministers have not intervened directly in the management and operations of Ferguson Marine.

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. 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 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.

Please see the answer to question S6W-35663 on 2 April 2025 for details of the election process. 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 Youth Parliament (SYP) has been clear that allegations of harassment or inappropriate behaviour are taken very seriously, investigated and action taken in line with their policies. Their safeguarding policies can be found here: https://syp.org.uk/safeguarding/

I refer the member to the SYP Board statement from 2022 which followed media reports on historical allegations. The statement provides details of action taken to strengthen safeguarding policies to ensure they are in line with legislation and also meet national standards: https://syp.org.uk/statement-from-syp-board/ . The Scottish Government has not been made aware of any new allegations or complaints.

The organisation continues to review their safeguarding polices annually to ensure they are as comprehensive as possible.

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 not involved in increasing the number of young people engaged with the Scottish Youth Parliament. That is a matter for the organisation.

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.

Ministerial time spent on individual matters such as the number of hours spent on matters relating to the Scottish Youth Parliament, is not recorded.