Human Rights Bill: Implementation Working Group - October 2024

Attendees and apologies

Aer Nicholson Clasby, Third Sector Equality Human Rights and Equality

Alice Tucker, Third Sector Human Rights and Equalities

Allan Berry, Creative Scotland

Bill Stevenson, Equality and Human Rights Commission

Cat Murphy, Engender

Charlie McMillan, Human Rights Consortium Scotland

Clare Gallagher, Inclusion Scotland

Danny Boyle, BEMIS

Eileen Cawley, Scottish Pensioners’ Forum

Elaine Webster, University of Strathclyde

Fergus McMillan, Skills Development Scotland

Hyo Eun Shin, Citizens Advice Scotland

Jillian Matthew, Audit Scotland

Jane Rice, Scottish Prison Service

Katie Boyle, University of Strathclyde

Liz McNamee, Scottish Prison Service

Lucy Miller, Human Rights Consortium Scotland

Luis felipe Yanes, Scottish Human Rights Commission

Marie Paterson, Care Inspector

Mario Medina, NHS

Mary Morgan, National Services Scotland

Michael Cameron, Scottish Housing Regulator  

Matt McDonald, Scottish Youth Parliament

Megan Moffat, Who Cares Scotland

Miriam McKenna, Improvement Service

Nicola Anderson, Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service

Professor Nicole Busby, University of Glasgow  

Rhona Willder, Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance

Rebecca Spillane, Improvement Service

Rosemary Agnew, Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

Rosie Tyler-Greig, Healthcare Improvement Scotland

Simon Cameron, COSLA

Stewart MacLachlan, Amnesty International

Suzanne McGuiness, Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland

Tony McGowan, NHS Health Improvement Scotland

Apologies

Mark Hazelwood, Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care

Rachel Cackett, Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland

Items and actions

Welcome and SG update

Kavita Chetty, Deputy Director for Human Rights, welcomed members to the meeting and thanked them for joining.

Members of the Core Group were asked to provide comments on minutes from the previous meeting on 2 May via email by close of play on Friday 18 October.

Kavita provided an update on the Programme for Government and outlined the rationale for delaying the introduction of the Human Rights Bill. As set out by the First Minister, the Programme for Government focused on actions to prioritise four areas – eradicating child poverty, growing our economy, tackling climate change, and delivering high quality and sustainable public services. In relation to the Human Rights Bill, the 2024-25 Programme for Government outlines the commitment to strengthening the implementation of human rights and to advancing proposals around extended rights protection. After careful consideration, Ministers decided that the Bill will not be introduced to Parliament during the current Parliamentary session and that further work would be undertaken to develop the Bill.

Kavita assured members that alongside continued work on the Bill, the Scottish Government will  take steps to further embed a human rights culture across public services. This will involve working closely with stakeholders to develop and deliver targeted activities to advance the implementation of human rights ahead of legislating, including to progress a number of prioritised SNAP2 actions. The group were assured that the Scottish Government wish to progress this work collaboratively and that this meeting would be a chance to discuss how the work is best taken forward.  

Ministers' continued commitment to the incorporation agenda was highlighted to members, as noted at the recent Human Rights Consortium Conference on 11 September which will be reiterated at the upcoming Advisory Board on 30 October. At the advisory board meeting, the group will also discuss the future of the Core and Wider Implementation Working Groups as the Scottish Government look to refresh governance structures. This is something the Scottish Government will be engaging on with key stakeholders in the coming weeks.

Reflections from members

Members expressed their disappointment following the announcement of the delay of the Human Rights Bill. The group recognised that it is important to keep momentum going for human rights. Members emphasised the need for effective communication between Scottish Government and stakeholders going forward. Members were assured that this is a priority for Scottish Government and delivering a realistic and impactful plan to be delivered between now and 2026 was key to rectifying this. Human Rights officials indicated they were keen for members to assist in developing next steps and are open to suggestions and ideas on how to drive this forward.

Summary of work so far

Lucy Visocchi, Human Rights Implementation team, provided a summary on both the Core and Wider Implementation Working Groups work to date and noted the importance of this work for future development. The groups views on the following themes were revisited:

• Human Rights Scheme
• Planning and reporting duty
• Advocacy, advice, and signposting
• Development of guidance
• Capacity and capacity building

Members were asked to note that the Scottish Government is due to publish the Mainstreaming Strategy consultation soon.

Next steps

Nora Uhrig, Human Rights Implementation team, outlined next steps for human rights implementation work in advance of the 2026 election.

Nora assured the group that Scottish Government will continue to work on progressing the Human Rights Bill with the aim of introducing it in the next Parliamentary session. Engagement with the UK Government regarding the devolution settlement and building relationships with counterparts was noted as being part of the work to progress the Bill. Nora also outlined work taking place to refresh the governance and engagement arrangements to reflect the shift in work, and to ensure meetings with stakeholders are productive and meaningful. Scottish Government are also considering whether a Bill Policy product would be useful to aid engagement and refine the testing of Bill proposals.

Work in the Human Rights division will focus on progressing key actions in SNAP2 , specifically the actions to:

• Explore with partners the development of an accessible tracker tool to monitor and support the implementation of international treaty body concluding observations and recommendations
  • Alex Devoy noted that SG has worked with several partners both internationally, such as the UN and other governments, and domestically to understand what already exists to appraise the mechanics and output of existing tracker recommendations so that we can evaluate what might work best for Scotland.  Next steps are to discuss those initial findings with stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of what the priorities are for a tool in Scotland
• Develop and deliver a strategic programme across Scotland to significantly increase understanding of human rights, human rights law and a human rights-based approach
  • Nora noted that this will include drawing on learning from UNCRC Act implementation as well as mainstreaming, the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Fairer Scotland Duty

Officials confirmed the aim is to have progressed activities by spring 2026.   

Reflections

Capacity and resource concerns were raised by members on the practicalities of a tracker tool.  Officials noted plan to bring together key stakeholders who have an interest in the project to discuss issues in more detail.   

The group discussed the need to have a joined-up approach to streamlining and aligning human rights duties with PSED, Fairer Scotland Duty and other relevant legislation. Officials provided assurance that the team are considering how we approach this in a coherent and joined up way and that conversations will be taking place between now and introduction to progress thinking on some of these issues.

Any Other Business

Members were thanked for their time and input to date.

Kavita reiterated the offer to work collaboratively with the group on implementation activities, as well as further engagement on the refreshed governance and engagement arrangements going forward.  Kavita asked members who would like to discuss further or share other views to email HumanRightsOffice@gov.scot