Chamber and committees

::Obviously, the ultimate aim is that the content of the high-level action plan is integrated into the forthcoming human rights tracker, which will in time support us to report on those actions and outcomes to both domestic and international committees.

As I said in my opening remarks, I will launch the tracker on 12 March. We have given an invitation to the clerks, which I think is being taken up, but it would be very helpful for committee members to look at the tracker, so that you can get a practical insight into what it looks like, what it feels like and how effective it is.

The intent of that tool is to help improve transparency and to enhance the implementation efforts on the recommendations that we receive from the human rights treaty bodies. The first phase of that is an accessible database of recommendations with the aim of further enabling us all to take strategic and co-ordinated action in devolved areas. Our intention is that the national human rights institutions, the Scottish Parliament, civil society and the rights holders will be better able, via the tracker, to review the recommendations and, ultimately, scrutinise the actions taken and the outcomes achieved.

As I have said, this committee plays a critical role in human rights scrutiny, so I encourage members to attend the launch and have a look at the tracker.

::The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and I were here very recently, and we spoke extensively to the committee about the improvements to the budget process. The use of human rights budgeting principles remains part of that process. We have made continuous progress in recent years and we are exploring how best to make more ambitious changes in future years, while being mindful of ICESCR and the equality obligations.

One of the main additions to the strategic integrated impact assessment, or SIIA, has been to integrate the detailed assessment of child rights and wellbeing under the requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as incorporated into Scots law.

Our detailed analysis concluded that the substantial investment in the child poverty package and the spending that benefits all children is likely to be positive for child rights, in particular the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to the highest attainable standard of healthcare and the right to an education.

The Scottish Parliament information centre noted in its blog that this approach

“may give an indication as to the opportunities which may arise should the Government achieve its intention to further embed human and social rights”

in Scots law. That is an acknowledgement that we are absolutely moving in the right direction.

The evidence on how portfolios contribute to human rights was collected as part of that SIIA process, but, in the interests of developing a streamlined and more accessible document, we decided not to publish that. It is all about actions. How valuable are the documents that we published alongside the budget process? How accessible are they? Which ones are used most meaningfully?

The pilot work that we have done on budget tagging may provide opportunities to support human rights budgeting in the future. Our planned evaluation of the work that we have done for the budget will help us to understand better what might be the best ways to take things further. I have already committed to sharing that work with the committee, as always.

I hope that that is helpful.

::Ms White, I am always delighted to meet with any colleague and with any member of this committee.

::We continue to make good progress on further developing and refining our human rights bill proposals. Our goal is to introduce an ambitious and effective bill that brings positive change. In July last year, we were pleased to publish the detailed discussion paper on our proposals for the bill. That paper consolidates the extensive work that has been undertaken to date, and we are supporting further engagement with stakeholders.

We continue to test and refine the proposals and to work through the implications for further incorporation legislation, building on lessons from the Human Rights Act 1998 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024. As the committee is aware, the UK Supreme Court 2021 judgment on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill and the European Charter of Local Self-Government (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill has implications for the potential scope of the proposed duties under the human rights bill, and we continue to use this time to chart a way forward on that. The committee has been kept informed on the work that we have undertaken to develop the proposals, and we will continue to provide updates to the relevant committees following the 2026 election.

It is worth noting that, when the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice and I met the Council of Europe’s Commissioner on Human Rights, the commissioner described our incorporation agenda as an impressive body of work that will also be of interest to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

::I totally acknowledge that. As you will be well aware, the equality and human rights fund supports highly valued projects that are tackling some of the most systemic discrimination and prejudice, and some of the projects that have been funded have a specific focus on community relations, which you referred to. The Scottish Government has provided £36 million—the actual number is £36,843,807—between 2021 and 2026.

One example of our acceptance of the need for sustainable, multiyear funding is the commitment to provide multiyear funding to disabled people’s organisations. That has been funded through the EHRF and will be subject to the proposed bill being passed, but I hope that that example of our commitment shows that we are making progress in that area.

::Thank you. I did not quite catch the second bit, but maybe you could come back in with a wee reminder for me.

I previously mentioned the coming home agenda. I just want to reiterate that the Scottish Government is committed to the coming home agenda. We accept that it is completely unacceptable that people are spending time in hospitals or other care settings when they are medically fit for discharge. We know that, for every unnecessary day they spend in hospital, people lose a part of their connection with their community, their family and their friends.

The Scottish Government has provided over £20 million of funding to integration authorities through the community living change fund, as well as other funding. That has had a real impact on support for people to move into the community. We are doing a final review of the impact of that funding, as we want to make sure that it is having the impact that we want it to have.

The Scottish Government and COSLA jointly established a coming home senior strategy group to oversee the implementation of the coming home implementation report. It delivered the dynamic support register, which was launched in May 2023 and which improves the visibility of people with learning disabilities and complex care needs at local and national levels. It also provides a tool to support local planning decision making. The most recent quarterly dynamic support register data, which took us up to September 2025, shows that fewer people were delayed in hospital or in inappropriate placings out of area compared with last year. The register has had an impact.

There is also a peer support network that brings together learning disability professionals from across Scotland to share best practice and to get support with planning services for individuals with particularly complex needs. There is also initial thinking on a national support panel to improve support and accountability and to hear from families and individuals about their individual circumstances.

The consultation on the learning disabilities, autism and neurodivergence bill set out the three options around the scope and remit of the panel, and further work has taken place to develop those options. I can provide further information on that.

I would be grateful for a reminder of the second part of your question.

I assure you that we keep in mind the aim of securing benefits for communities in everything that we do. Sometimes, that means that we have to decide to realign things so that they fit together better and run more smoothly. I am constantly trying to embed communication, integration and mainstreaming.

As Rob Priestley has said, the restructuring was an internal civil service process. Departments were realigned to ensure that my expectations are realised to the best effect and with the greatest efficiency. As always, that process will be evaluated to ensure that it is having the impact that we want it to have. The ultimate aim is to benefit communities.

I would just like to clarify this. Ms White, are you referring to historical—

No, we are not. We increased the funding for the delivery of our equally safe strategy by £2.4 million, which will bring it up to a total of £21.6 million, subject to the approval of the budget. We recognise the increased need in that area. I confirm that that is part of our commitment to the fairer funding approach. I heard loudly and clearly that people want multiyear funding in order to stabilise their services and their workforce, and all the rest of it.

It is frustrating when we announce uplifts and they are taken away. The uplifts have not had the effect that we would like, because we had an increase in employer national insurance contributions, for example, which is the ultimate frustration.

We currently support 115 projects from 107 organisations that cover every local authority in Scotland.

I just want to highlight a wee example that might help. The child poverty tagging pilot study found that high-impact lines span multiple portfolios, as has been said, and cluster around a small number of primary child poverty drivers, including social security, household income support, income from employment and parental employability, and early learning and childcare. That gives an indication of how you can start to track things across portfolios.

Something else that we should remember about budget tagging is that, although we absolutely want to follow the money, we need to ensure that we prioritise the areas where we can have the biggest impact. I mentioned child poverty, because tackling that is one of the Government’s key drivers, and we need to ensure that we consider the tagging and the evidence in that respect quite deeply and scrutinise it rigorously so that we can have a better outcome and can evidence that outcome in a better way. My concern is that we are asked to budget tag everything, because I think that the effect would be diluted.