Viewpoint / A busy first year of representing Shetland’s young people
Bertie Summers, one of Shetland’s two members of the Scottish Youth Parliament, is reflecting on the first 12 months of giving the isles’ young people a voice locally and further afield
It has been twelve months since Joe Smith and I were elected to serve as Shetland’s two Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) in the middle of March 2024. This last year has been a huge rollercoaster, not just for our journey, but for the entire world.
We have seen a record number of global elections and leadership changes, tragedies and scandals. In all of this time, I am incredibly pleased with how my Youth Parliament duties have been going since we were both announced the election winners.
Immediately after becoming MSYPs, Joe and I went along to a celebratory session at Islesburgh, which was aimed at preparing for the implementation of all children’s rights in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This was eventually introduced into domestic law in Scotland in July.
At the end of March, we travelled down to Edinburgh for our first SYP trip outside of Shetland. We were joined by Orkney’s two MSYPs, Nymeria Drayak and Iain Pretswell, as well as Alannah Logue and Ellie Denehy, the two MSYPs from the Western Isles. This trip was arranged to try and strengthen relations between different island communities, in an attempt to see the voices of our remote and isolated local communities being heard better by the central decision-makers in Holyrood.
Throughout the month of April, Joe and I had in-person meetings with Emma Roddick MSP (Highlands and Islands, regional), Beatrice Wishart MSP (Shetland, constituency) and Alistair Carmichael MP (Orkney and Shetland). We spoke with each one of them about how the disadvantages in transport, housing, education, etc, that are currently facing Shetland at a Scotland and/or United Kingdom level can be fixed.
On Tuesday 4 June, the two of us were giving out the certificates at Shetland’s annual Saltire Awards Ceremony. We spent the month or so leading up to this evening, by working with Lavinia Schmidt (Youth Development Support Worker at the Voluntary Action Shetland Core Staff Team) to prepare for what we would be doing at the Mareel.
I am still immensely proud of the fact that a record number of young people (164) were rightfully recognised for their hard work and the 17,000 hours of volunteering that they had collectively undertaken throughout that past year.
When we went to the Shetland Islands Council’s transport forum at the town hall a week after that, the CEO of Loganair (Luke Farajallah) invited to Glasgow Airport to see the headquarters of Scotland’s regional airline. As a result, we went down for our second trip to the UK Mainland on 5 August, the day before SQA exam results were made public to all candidates in Scotland.
As Joe and I were given a tour around the many buildings at Loganair HQ, we handed a letter to senior staff members which contained our recommendations for how they could and should be improving their air service for their younger travellers in the future.
As well as that and the problems with reliability, we also advised Loganair to try and change the way that youngsters can apply for a discount on their air fare. Instead of applying for this over the telephone or finding a travel agent, we believed that young people flying from the mainland and an island community should be able to use the internet, as they are not able to do this right now.
The work that we both did on this particular front is definitely one of my many highlights of having the tremendous honour of representing Shetland’s young people. As Joe and I both serve on the SYP’s Transport, Environment, and Rural Affairs (TERA) committee, it is very important to us that air travel can be better, so that youngsters can have a choice between using the plane or the ferry.
This is why I am so happy to point out that all members of the TERA committee voted on an aim for the remainder of the year in October’s parliamentary sitting in Edinburgh. It will be: “Expanding the Young Scot Free Travel Scheme onto other methods of public transport, and increasing the discounted travel up to the age of 26”.
As Helen Budge stepped down as the SIC’s director of children’s services in September, she spent her final few weeks helping us to get ready for interviewing the different people who were all standing to replace her. She also gave us a preview of what would be included in the council’s 2 September Education and Families (E&F) committee meeting. It was her last one.
After Samantha Flaws took over in that same role, we reached a revised agreement with her, regarding our involvement in each E&F committee meeting. In the one which took place on 11 November, Joe and I were allowed to comment on two reports: the situation with school attendance and the success of the Hub being used as a space for young people to spend time in.
Whilst we continue our duties in 2025, the Shetland Youth Voice will be a large part of our role. This work already started, when we had our first meeting at Islesburgh on Monday 7 October. Members of this organisation voted to make transport their most important issue.
The work that we both did on this particular front is definitely one of my many highlights of having the tremendous honour of representing Shetland’s young people.
As such, Joe and I had a Teams call with Jim Fairlie MSP (Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity) and invited him and a few representatives from Transport Scotland to come to Shetland for the next Shetland Youth Voice meeting on 14 January.
A few weeks after the 7th, the Executive membership echoed these same issues to Maggie Sandison, the council’s chief executive, who will use our concerns and opinions to publish next year’s report on the SIC’s improvement plan.
As well as this, youngsters taking part in Shetland Youth Voice were allowed to answer a survey on each of the 15 motions that were presented at the 82nd SYP sitting in Holyrood, a few weeks later. This hugely increased the number of respondents and we voted based on how our constituents voted.
I have truly loved spending this past year as an elected MSYP, and I am really looking forward to experiencing whatever is supposed to happen in the future. Hopefully, Joe and I will continue to successfully represent our constituents to the very best of our abilities.
