Today, Tuesday April 30^th 2013, the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee decided to close Andrew Deans petition: “Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ban the use of the ‘Mosquito’ and other such devices which emit a loud, unpleasant, high-pitched noise designed to be heard only by those under 25.”

The Public Petitions Committee has referred the evidence provided by Andrew to the Scottish Government to take on this matter.

Speaking after the meeting, Andrew Deans MSYP, says:

“It’s incredibly disappointing the committee has decided to close this petition to ban the Mosquito device.  These unregulated devices clearly discriminate against young people, targeting them with a high-frequency sound which only they can find.

“I hope the Scottish Government recognise their responsibility to protect the Human Rights of young Scots.  The Scottish Government want Scotland to be the best country in the world to grow up in.  I think that’s much more likely in a country which doesn’t have these offensive and discriminatory Mosquito devices.”

Full information about the Mosquito petition can be found here: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01367 .

Good Afternoon!
I am a Trustee of the Scottish Youth Parliament as well as a Member of the organisation for Shetland. The issues surrounding renewable energy are something which I have been exposed to while growing up in Shetland. Something that I am extremely passionate about is the engagement of Scotland’s young people in the renewables industry.

In a world facing the threat of climate change, it’s important for every nation to look towards renewable energy.  The benefits of cleaner air and water, and of reduced carbon emissions and fossil fuel use, cannot be disputed.

Young people in Scotland are very aware of this.  All the opinion polling, as well as the work of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP), shows clear support for policies designed to protect the environment.  In the most recent YouGov poll, 69% of young people who responded said that they agreed with the continued development of wind power as part of our energy mix.  This was higher than that of the general population.  71% of the younger respondents said that their decision to visit an area would not be affected by the presence of a wind farm.  Young people understand the need for compromise and the value of wind power.  In contrast, the older generation of respondents were much less favourable to all renewable.  When asked to rate developments they would prefer to see in their local council area, the older respondents favoured fossil fuel developments.  37% of this older age bracket said that the presence of a wind farm would affect their decision to visit an area.

Last October we debated whether Scotland should fully back the use of renewable energy.  The result was overwhelming, with 81 percent of our members voting in favour.

This is nothing new, a decade ago the SYP manifesto said: “Scotland should aim to produce 50% of its electricity through renewable sources by 2020.  Scotland should become a country of excellence in renewable energy, creating jobs and protecting our environment.”

The obvious implication here is young people are much more concerned about the long-term than many older voters.  They recognise the challenges.  Yet at the same time, they are free from some of the issues which encourage scepticism.

Not having to consider what the price of fuel will be next month, or what the impact of planning permission will be on the street, means young people can look at issues on a more holistic level.

This is why those who work in the Renewables industry should be doing everything possible to engage with young people. Young people are already convinced of the environmental case.

We understand that there might be a trade-off between the perfect view and adding a few turbines that will bring local energy, local investment, and local jobs.  Because young people are often excluded from household decisions they are more likely to be prepared to engage when their opinion is asked.

Yet at the same time young people are the group most likely to be excluded from the process.
- Planning letters sent to the head of the household are unlikely to filter down through the house.
- Long and obtuse planning application proposals fail to speak to the issues young people care about.
- By comparison, presentations are rarely made in schools, colleges or to youth groups.

In essence the current approach from the Renewables industry focuses on those most likely to be resistant, whilst excluding potential allies.

However, it’s not just enough to make a generic case for renewable energy, and assume young people will be happy enough.  The natural sympathy for this industry doesn’t mean young people don’t care about the local implications as well.  This is why it’s not just about the medium, but about the message.

The Viking Energy project in Shetland inspired hundreds of young people across the isles to debate and discuss the proposals. Whether in favour or against the project, what was clear was that young people care and want to be involved in debate and discuss around the production of energy in Scotland today. They understand that the oil that the economy of their islands is so dependent on will run out and that doing nothing is not an option.

While travelling around Shetland with our MSP Tavish Scott conducting School surgeries, many young people asked for our opinions on the Viking proposals and shared their opinions with us. Young people want to be engaged in debate and involved in the industry.

Renewable energy projects can make a difference locally, affecting and improving the lives of young people.  The details of course vary from place to place and proposal to project.  In some cases it will mean local jobs, especially for younger workers prepared to be trained.  On other occasions there may not be work, but there may be compensation for the community which could be used to help local young people.
The situations vary, but the necessity to engage with young people does not.

There can be no doubt renewable energy is crucial to Scotland’s energy and economic development.  In many ways Scotland’s future is tied up with making green energy a success.  That success is just as important for young people.

Firstly because the jobs and opportunities developed by our green investment are incredibly important to engage with the challenges of youth unemployment.  Whether it’s modern apprenticeships, or high level engineering, the renewable industry is an area of enormous potential growth – and is therefore very important for young Scots.
Secondly, the importance of being able to produce energy domestically cannot be understated.  As North Sea Oil reserves eventually dwindle it’s essential we look to the future.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it’s about the future of the very land.  Scotland is a beautiful country.  Preserving that environment is one of the most important duties we all face.

Young people in Scotland understand this.  We want to be able to enjoy our amazing nation for many years to come.  That is much more likely if the renewable industry recognises our value, our potential, and works together with us.

What I’m really asking is for Scotland’s renewable industry to recognise the importance of the young people who truly are Scotland’s future, and to work with them to help deliver the Scotland they deserve.
That is the way forward to a greener, cleaner, and better future for Scotland.

It’s been a busy month for SYP and for myself as Chair as our national campaign, Love Equally, now is about us all banding together and ensuring that the Scottish Government receive the most positive response to their Marriage Equality consultation that we can give them. A lot has been going on in SYP HQ, pushing forward the campaign with a brilliant event hosted in our very own offices and picked up by numerous newspapers and radio and TV stations. The press conference was of faith organisations who support SYP’s core campaign belief that all couples, be they homosexual or heterosexual should be allowed to marry. This builds on the great momentum we already have here at the SYP offices and on the amazing series of positive press coverage we have been receiving.

The SYP tour has now finally begun as Marie Gallagher and I travel all over Scotland to the different regions delivering SYP training and giving you face to face updates on what’s going on in SYP, opportunities available to you at that time and a chance to get to know the other MSYPs in your region. So far two tour events have been held with Marie and I going to Inverurie, where we received over 30 consultation responses in under an hour, and board trustee Jordan Linden and Marie Gallagher attended the SYP event held at Ayr. With a good number of events to go I can’t wait to get down or up to all your arenas and get some good old fashioned campaigning done, with a little bit of a laugh and free food thrown into the bargain.

The Cross Party Group on Children and Young People, on which I serve as Vice-Convener for, held its last meeting in the Parliament on the 29th of September where we looked into the current Welfare Reform Bill that is going through the Westminster. It was expressed that we as a whole Cross Party Group had serious concerns that the bill have many ill effects for families’ children and especially lone parent families’ children in Scotland. Our report went to the Scottish Government and days latter the Government passed a motion refusing to give legislative consent to the bill. While this is truly only a symbolic measure it does send the UK Government the message that there are flaws, we feel, within the bill and hope that it will be changed before implementation.

In September, YouthLink Scotland held a national summit where many different youth organisation came together to develop a communiqué to be sent to the Government discussing the position of Youth Work Services. I attended the event on behalf of the SYP and it was a brilliant event where both Annabel Goldie and the Secretary of State for Justice Kenny McAskill attended. I spoke about how, in my opinion, Youth work breeds diversity into our society and how without it young people would lose the chance to expand their interests and themselves as a people.

Renfrewshire Youth Voice invited me to attend an event where they were honouring the young people in their local area for the fantastic work that they have been doing. Awards ranging from young musician of the year to young career of the young. It was an honour to be invited to the event and asked to present an award. Thank you to all the members of RYV and once again congratulations to all the winners.

This coming Wednesday, thanks to recent partnership work between myself and a charity known as Open Door, I secured places for two West Lothian MSYPs, David Leitch and Allanah Peters, to attend and speak at Open Door’s AGM.

Finally I was on Brian Taylor’s Big Debate last week representing the SYP. It was an amazing experience and the feedback we have received has been excellent. I hope you had the chance to tune in and listen.

The October Sitting is only weeks away and I can’t wait to see you all again in North Ayrshire. I have been sending you out information about the sitting in dribs and drabs over the last few weeks and as you can see it is going to be a jam packed agenda. I’ll see you all there. If you have any questions please feel free to ask us on day, or if you have any feedback or questions in advance of the meeting please email me grant.costello.msyp@sypmail.org.uk

The SYP blog is proving to be a really popular feature of our new website, and we want to make sure it’s jam-packed with your views!

Hopefully, you’ll have enjoyed Keenan, Kelley and Grant’s blogs recently – if you’ve got a burning issue and you want to tell everyone about, this is the place to do it!

We’re looking for blog posts from as many MSYPs as we can, so if you’d like to write about an issue close to your heart, we’d be delighted to post it here.

So if you’ve got an idea for something you’d like to blog about, send it to Hamira Khan at hamira.k@syp.org.uk

• It can be about a local issue you want to bring to national attention, something in the news, or just your thoughts on an issue that you care about – anything goes within reason!

• Ideally, it should be about 400-500 words in length, although if it’s a wee bit shorter or longer than this that should be fine as well.

• Make sure you spell-check it. It sounds obvious, but if there’s lots of spelling and grammatical errors then people will end up looking for them rather than reading what you have to say!

• We reserve the right to edit your post, but we’ll try and avoid doing this unless there are major problems with it, as we want your views in your own words.

And that’s about it! Send your blog posts to hamira.k@syp.org.uk – and the stage could be yours!