Committee
Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee 09 September 2025
09 Sep 2025 · S6 · Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee
Item of business
Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27
On the point that Pam Gosal made about accountability, I am a former councillor so can communicate on behalf of local government. I remember being under rigorous scrutiny, continuously providing feedback and evaluations, meeting key performance indicator targets and demonstrating that we had met those outcomes. There is a lot of pressure on local government and health boards.
Our user engagement work over the session has shown us the importance of involving citizens in budgeting, and giving them the opportunity to explore budget scrutiny. What has been achieved by the Scottish Government in its own work on citizen involvement in the budget?
In the same item of business
The Convener
SNP
Our second agenda item is pre-budget scrutiny. This is the third and final year of the committee’s agreed focus on human rights budgeting and the final budge...
Professor Angela O’Hagan (Scottish Human Rights Commission)
Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to be here. I am the chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission and was previously the independent chair of...
Pam Gosal (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
Good morning everyone. I am a Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party member of the Scottish Parliament for West Scotland.
Emma Congreve (Fraser of Allander Institute)
I am the interim chair of the equality and human rights budget advisory group as well as being deputy director at the Fraser of Allander Institute.
Allan Faulds (Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland)
Thank you for having me. I am senior policy officer at the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland.
Marie McNair (Clydebank and Milngavie) (SNP)
SNP
I am the MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie.
Tess White (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I am an MSP for North East Scotland.
Sara Cowan (Scottish Women’s Budget Group)
I am director of the Scottish Women’s Budget Group.
Paul McLennan (East Lothian) (SNP)
SNP
Good morning. I am the MSP for East Lothian.
The Convener
SNP
I will kick off our questions and witnesses should indicate whether they want to come in and answer anything, as should members who have questions or want to...
Emma Congreve
I can speak on behalf of the equality and human rights budget advisory group and Angela O’Hagan can correct me if I am wrong. At the start of this session, ...
Allan Faulds
There has been clear progress in terms of the Scottish Government’s willingness to talk about human rights as part of its framing for budget decisions. We ha...
Sara Cowan
I will build on Emma Congreve’s points. I am also an external member of the equality and human rights budget advisory group, in which we look at human right...
Professor O’Hagan
Colleagues have captured most of what I would have said. I certainly agree with them. For me, running through the comments here is the gap between narrative...
The Convener
SNP
Thank you, that was very helpful.
Maggie Chapman (North East Scotland) (Green)
Green
Good morning, everyone. I am sorry that I cannot join you in person, but greetings from sunny Dundee. Angela O’Hagan, you talked about the gap between narra...
Professor O’Hagan
Good morning, Maggie. There are a number of factors. We still have a capacity gap in the Government, and perhaps also in the Parliament, in the knowledge of ...
Maggie Chapman
Green
That is helpful. There is frustration about the lack of joining those things up in that way. Allan Faulds, you talked about the tensions between revenue gen...
Allan Faulds
I do not think that I have seen a shift in where the Government and Parliament want to invest their resources. Investment in social care is significant and i...
Maggie Chapman
Green
I hear that frustration—it is expressed by lots of people across the social care sector, from service users to providers. Have other panel members seen simil...
Allan Faulds
A little bit. It relates to some of the stuff that Angela O’Hagan and, I think, Sara Cowan said about the lack of connection between the different parts of t...
Emma Congreve
One thing has changed recently with the responsibility for the equality and human rights budget statement—is it still called the equality and fairer Scotland...
Sara Cowan
To build on the social care question and Allan Faulds’s response, I will give an example of where there is a disconnect between narrative and practice. In la...
Maggie Chapman
Green
Thanks very much, folks. Have there been any policy priorities that you would have expected to see some progress on? Even if it is only narrative progress, ...
Emma Congreve
I will speak about that with my Fraser of Allander Institute hat on. The papers for today’s meeting contain a link to a report on human rights budgeting tha...
Professor O’Hagan
Earlier this year, the Scottish Human Rights Commission produced a spotlight report on learning disabilities, and one of the things to highlight in the conte...
The Convener
SNP
Maggie? Apologies, but I did not hear what you said.
Maggie Chapman
Green
Sorry—I muted myself to cough and then realised that I could not unmute myself. I will leave it there, convener. I am happy to pass over to others, and I wi...
The Convener
SNP
We will move to questions from Tess White.
Tess White
Con
I will start with Angela O’Hagan, if I may. My question links to the previous one from Maggie Chapman. Angela, you have given a few concrete examples, but th...