Scotland not meeting human rights obligations, watchdog finds

A report from Scotland’s human rights watchdog has raised concerns that people with learning disabilities and autism are still being held in institutions in breach of their rights.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission found in a review that the Scottish Government had made “little progress” in its plans to reduce delayed discharge and provide care closer to home for people with disabilities and complex needs.

The Scottish Government’s Coming Home Implementation plan, published in 2022, committed to moving people out of hospital to independent living by March 2024, and to prevent new unnecessary admissions for anything other than medical need.

The commission said it found evidence of “direct violations” of Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during the review.

In a new report the commission also raised concerns about potential violations of the European Convention on Human Rights obligations enshrined in the Human Rights Act 1998.

Professor Angela O’Hagan, chairwoman of the commission, said: “Every person has the right to live independently, but for some people with learning disabilities and autistic people in Scotland, the choices that allow them to live in their community are not available.

“Instead, they may be moved far from home to receive support or be admitted to hospital; and it can take a long time for people to get out of hospital again.

“We have explored what actions have been taken under the Scottish Government’s Coming Home Implementation plan in detail, examining and measuring action and the lack of action through the lens of human rights standards.

“It is troubling to find such little progress has been made and that clear failures to uphold human rights continue.

“This evidence reveals a failure to uphold the right to independent living, in terms of Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and action must be taken immediately to prevent violations of human rights.

“We will continue to monitor this situation and use our limited powers to push for change, including encouraging government and public authorities to urgently act.”

Prof O’Hagan added: “Our findings and approach have been guided by people with direct experience.

“We are hugely grateful for their time and insight, which has informed the project overall, including a short new film and toolkit to people who want to advocate for change.

“We encourage all human rights defenders to use the findings of this report, the human rights framework it contains and the toolkit we have published alongside to challenge inadequate progress where they see it.”

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.