Safeguarding

The Scottish Youth Parliament is fully committed to safeguarding the wellbeing of all children and young people we work with, and we maintain the highest possible standards of safeguarding through our work. We take our responsibility to promote safe practices and to protect young people from harm, abuse, and exploitation very seriously.  

Our safeguarding policies, procedures and guidelines are informed and underpinned by good and emerging practice and by national policies and procedures. In particular, the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and the GIRFEC Framework are central to our safeguarding approach.  

We continually strengthen our guidelines and procedures in line with evolving guidance, and we review and update our guidelines and policies at least every two years. Our safeguarding policies and procedures provide the framework for protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults, and enable our staff and volunteers to effectively support and protect children and young people, particularly those who are most vulnerable and at risk of harm.  

Staff and volunteers receive regular training and guidance to ensure they are confident and able to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively whilst ensuring young people can meaningfully participate in our work in a way that is accessible, inclusive and safe.  

Our key policies are linked below. Any young people involved with SYP or other stakeholders can ask for more information about our approach to safeguarding and wellbeing by contacting the SYP staff team.