SYP March Sitting 2012 

17th - 18th March, kindly hosted by South Ayrshire Council

The final countdown to the March Sitting is on, less than two weeks before we gather on the 17th and 18th March in Prestwick South Ayrshire. We have been working hard with the Conveners Group and the local MSYPs to put together a Sitting which will match expectations. We think you will agree, the March Sitting is going to be one to remember what with more Members Motions than ever before, selection of our next short-term campaign, SYP Awards, Subject Committees, Members Debate and MSYP Development Workshops!!  

Click here for the Sitting agenda  

Click here for the Session Overview on the Opening Session on Saturday 'Passionate Oral Communication'

Click here for Speaker Bio on Keynote Speaker Russell Wardrop

The weekend’s activities in brief…

Members Motions (Saturday Morning)

Members Motion debates are one of the most popular bits of SYP Sittings, and give MSYPs the chance to shape SYP’s agenda! They’re designed to allow MSYPs to raise issues you care about, tell the membership why it’s important to you and give MSYPs the chance to debate and vote on the issue.

It’s pretty simple really, in the run up to a Sitting MSYPs can propose a motion for the SYP to debate and form policy. It can be any issue that’s close to your heart and that you think MSYPs should debate and the SYP should take a view on. The SYP Conveners Group will examine the suggestions they receive and decide which should be debated at the Sitting.

Members Motion Topics

The six Members Motion debates at the March Sitting will be (click the motion for Essential Information):

“Governments of the world should not attempt to regulate or censor the internet. Doing so would compromise liberty, privacy, human rights and freedom of information.” James Smyth MSYP

“SYP believes the National Minimum Wage should be raised in line with the living wage, as calculated by the Centre for Research in Social Policy, in order to guarantee workers the decent standard of living they deserve”  Michael Low MSYP

“An additional local levy (c.1.5%) on alcoholic drinks is introduced with the proceeds being ‘ring-fenced’ and used to finance local services which address problems associated with alcohol misuse – with particular emphasis being given to the provision of recreational facilities and services for young people” Kenna Barrow MSYP

“Students in Secondary Education should not be discriminated against in local supermarkets, petrol stations and small local shops during lunch hour” Jahura Hussain MSYP

“That the Scottish Youth Parliament criticises the poor judgement of Scottish universities which have drastically increased their fees for applicants from the Rest of the United Kingdom (RUK for short).” Chris Glendinning MSYP

“To make St Andrew’s Day a Public Holiday in Scotland” Chris Cromar MSYP and Christina Hendry MSYP

At the Sitting, there will definitely be time to debate all six Members Motions.

 

“Between now and May, SYP should mainly campaign on…” (Saturday

Afternoon)

 

Members will hear a pitch on two possible short lived campaigns, as chosen by the Conveners Group which will run from March –May 2012. Each pitch will be presented by an MSYP and will be followed by an open debate among the membership. The session will conclude with a vote on what campaign the SYP will mainly campaign on up until May.

For further information on the session and possible campaigns click here.   

 

SYP Awards (Saturday Evening)

The SYP Awards are back, bigger and better for 2012! This is your chance to recognize MSYPs for their hard work at the Scottish Youth Parliament!! A massive than you to everyone who took the time to nominate someone for this years awards – we received more nominations for the awards this year than ever before!!

The following awards will be given out on the night: 

MSYP of the Year, sponsored by Young Scot

Support Worker of the Year, sponsored by Education Scotland  

Area/Group of the Year, sponsored by South Ayrshire Council

Achievement of the Year, sponsored by Mcclay, Murray and Spens

The John McCann Unsung Hero Award, sponsored by The Co-Operative Foundation

One-to-Watch Award, sponsored by Schuh

 

Members Debate (Sunday Morning)

There will also be a debate on the Sunday morning on a topical and controversial issue. This will be similar to a Members Motion debate, but unlike Members Motions, there will be opening speakers both for AND against the motion. The MSYPs who have been selected to speak for and against on Sunday will be announced very soon, watch this space…

The topic of the debate will be: “Assisted suicide should be legalised”. For additional information on the issue click here.  

MSYP Development Workshops (Sunday Afternoon)

We have been hard at work to put together a series of workshops designed to offer MSYPs the chance to develop skills which are key to maintaining and improving their work as an MSYP.

We are thrilled to be joined by a range of brilliant organisation such as Young Scot, YouthLink Scotland and Nil By Mouth who will deliver some of the workshops on Sunday afternoon.