Young people from Stirling and the Borders offer their insight into public finances

Young people from Balfron High School present their report to Kate Forbes MSP, Minister for Public Finance & Digital Economy

On behalf of the Scottish Government, we worked with young people from Stirling and the Borders to gain insight into their understanding of public finances, as well as their key priorities for spend and the key messages that should be communicated to young people.

Using our innovative, tried and tested Co-Design process, the young people involved explored the topic of Scotland’s public finances and from this pulled out the key priority messages based on their needs. The young people then used these messages to develop recommendations on what information they required and what format this information should be in to make this easy to understand and more engaging to young people in Scotland.

The lively discussions demonstrated interest and understanding about how and why public money is spent on specific services and how it benefits young people as citizens.

Throughout the sessions held with young people from the Scottish Borders and Balfron High School, it was highlighted that there is confusion and a lack of understanding about what Scotland’s public finances are and how these directly affect young people. Alongside this, the emerging themes – young people facing the uncertainty of Brexit and their role as taxpayers – clearly reflected the reality of the young people’s situation.

What was also clear is that young people do feel that they should know about Scotland’s public finances as it affects them on a daily basis, whether that is contributing through taxes or benefiting from a service that relies on public money, such as the NHS.

For young people to better understand Scotland’s public finances, it seems it would help them if there was an emphasis on the key areas that impact young people based on where they are at that point in their lives. There also needs to be thought given to how the information is disseminated, making sure that all young people’s needs are met. Information is key but how it is produced is just as important if young people are to engage with and understand it.

The young people’s views and priorities explored throughout this process are just the start of the conversation and provide the opportunity for the Scottish Government to continue to engage young people about Scotland’s public finances.

You can view a preview or download a PDF version of the full report below.