Chamber and committees

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.

No businesses have been reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015.

NHS GGC agreed in May 2024 that its PCANOS model and staff would be embedded into their specialist Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services in order to ensure long term sustainability. The realignment of PCANOS expertise into Glasgow Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services ensures that staff are fully supported by the wider Alcohol and Drug Recovery Service team to provide a full range of clinical, medical and psychosocial support services to individuals.

Glasgow City ADP greatly value the variety of specialist alcohol services across the city in dealing with the public health crisis in relation to alcohol. The Managed Alcohol Programme, the Fibro scanner pilot and the community and residential Alcohol Related Brain Damage Services are just some examples of the innovative and impactful provision in the city.

The Scottish Government is fully supportive of the actions being taken by both NHS GGC and Glasgow City ADP.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35803 on 2 April 2025. 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 following table provides information from 2009-10 to 2023-24. Information is not available on a comparable basis for earlier years.

Leavers with no passes in National Qualifications at SCQF Level 3 or better.

Yes. The approach NatureScot take, as the licensing authority for the issuing of lethal control licences for beaver management, is consistent with the approach that it uses for licensing lethal control for other European Protected Species, in that the licensing tests are the same. The interpretation of these will have some nuance depending on the interests being affected, the availability of satisfactory alternatives for different conflict situations and the conservation status of the species.

Work has been ongoing within public agencies to identify sites where beaver release may take place, within and on the edge of current range and in new catchments. A licence issued to the Cairngorms National Park Authority allows for a further five beaver families to be released. Forestry and Land Scotland have submitted an application for beaver translocation to Glen Affric within the Beauly catchment which is currently being assessed by NatureScot.

NatureScot encourages any landowner who is interested in hosting beavers to come forward so that they can discuss the licence application process with them and the suitability of sites. The number of beavers hosted will vary depending on the number of release sites and the local circumstances, however, this forms part of the application process considered by NatureScot.

In July 2023, Scottish Forestry launched the Woodlands for Riparian Benefits Forestry Grant Scheme, targeting specific areas to enhance Scotland’s riparian woodlands. The scheme offers increased grant rates for areas along watercourses. Around 175,000 hectares have been identified where planting riparian woodland can be prioritised to deliver and maximise multiple benefits.

There are also measures in the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme for the management of water margins, management of wetlands and floodplains and capital items to support river restoration approaches. While these are not specific to beaver reintroduction, these schemes can be used to enhance riparian habitats in those circumstances.

NatureScot has published Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA for Tayside, Knapdale, the Forth catchment, Loch Lomond catchment, the River Spey and the Beauly catchments, as well as publishing a screening report for the Rivers Ness and Lochy catchments.

Given the body of work to date and the likelihood of assessing similar environmental effects in different catchments, NatureScot has proposed that it will adopt an SEA screening approach to new catchments to determine if there are novel interests and interactions that may require a more detailed assessment. This will streamline the approach to future SEA assessments. Prioritising assessments will depend on where there is interest from land managers and organisations in hosting beavers.