Hansard

Thank you, convener. I am grateful to the committee for inviting me to give evidence. I welcome the role of the Parliament as a human rights guarantor for the people of Scotland and the distinct work of this committee in driving progress on that. I am looking forward to discussing the issues and working with the committee on the Parliament’s and the committee’s approach to national level scrutiny, following on from the international human rights reporting mechanisms.

The leading role of the Parliament in supporting and overseeing the implementation of human rights has been formally recognised internationally. Of course, all of our parliamentary committees have a role to play in that. Over the past two decades, the Parliament has played a critical role in developing a culture of human rights. That is demonstrated, for example, by the establishment of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland and the Scottish Human Rights Commission, along with the work to incorporate international human rights treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

With regard to the international reporting of human rights, we welcome the international scrutiny of our human rights record. International treaty reporting in relation to state parties takes place on a cyclical basis and drives improvement by requiring state parties to account for past performance and to respond to recommendations for future actions. Engaging with international human rights monitoring mechanisms, such as those within the United Nations and the Council of Europe, ensures that we remain vigilant about implementing our international obligations and focused on making continued improvements to the realisation of rights for people in their everyday lives. It also gives us an opportunity to share international examples of good practice and strong delivery.

In February, as part of a United Kingdom delegation to the UN in Geneva, Scottish Government officials took part in the seventh periodic review of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The interactive dialogue is an important transparency, scrutiny and accountability mechanism, and we welcomed the opportunity to provide evidence on the actions that Scotland has taken in relation to devolved matters since the previous reporting period in 2016. The UN committee welcomed Scotland’s approach to the incorporation of international treaties and to tackling issues such as child poverty and drug-related deaths.

On 3 March, the committee published its concluding observations, which set out the recommendations for both reserved and devolved policy areas. There are more than 130 recommendations to the UK state party, of which 49 recommendations relate to policy areas that are devolved to the Scottish Government.

It is worth noting that that interactive dialogue is historically significant, because the UN committee received the largest number of civil society reports for any state party review, which is an example of an achievement that we can all be proud of. Building on that, we are engaging with civil society to consider our next steps and how we can strengthen our approach to implementation.

That engagement includes the development of a human rights digital tool to openly and transparently track concluding observations from international treaty bodies and to provide a platform from which to monitor implementation in Scotland. A design group has been established, which includes representatives from civil society as well as parliamentary officials, to advance the phased development of the tool, with a view to launching an initial product by March 2026. Our shared ambition is that the information in the tool will be useful for civil society and the Parliament, including committees such as this one, for the purpose of enhanced informed scrutiny of the implementation of the recommendations in the concluding observations, which will help to drive forward policy improvements and resilience.

As the committee knows, we are working to develop proposals to incorporate into domestic law a number of international treaties such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Incorporation of treaties into domestic law strengthens the protection of human rights by making them a part of the domestic legal framework, ensuring that those rights are accessible to the people who need them and are increasingly embedded in all policy, practice and service delivery. Through that approach, we aim to build a stronger human rights culture in Scotland. Through the development of human rights capability building across the public sector, we are taking steps now to lay the groundwork for future legislation. All of that work is closely linked to our equality and human rights mainstreaming strategy.

The focus of today’s evidence session is the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recommendations on Scottish devolved policy. Although the treaty covers a wide scope of devolved policy areas, from education to health, I understand that the committee is particularly interested in hearing about evidence that relates to social security, because our radically different Scottish system is founded on the principle that social security is a human right. That is in sharp contrast to the UK approach, which, only last month, Amnesty International described as “consciously cruel”, after publishing a report that identified what the organisation described as “severe human rights violations” at the heart of the UK Government benefits system.

Based on dignity, fairness and respect, our system mitigates the worst of UK Government austerity and invests in the people of Scotland, providing vital assistance to enable older people to heat their homes and to help disabled people to live independent lives. In 2025-26, we are investing £644 million in our package of seven benefits and payments, including the Scottish child payment, that are available only in Scotland.

I agree entirely with the UN’s observation that the UK Government must end the unacceptable two-child cap. In the light of the UK Government’s failure to act on that recommendation, we are working to end the cap in Scotland by next April.

We are committed to meeting our 2030 child poverty targets. The 2025-26 Scottish budget prioritises action to eradicate child poverty, not only through our social security system but through much wider investment—for example, in breakfast clubs, employability support and free bus travel.

Thank you for your patience, convener. I look forward to answering the committee’s questions and to working with you to further embed good practice in the follow-up process for international reporting mechanisms.