Professor Angela O’Hagan

A new report from the human rights watchdog identifies gaps in human rights standards and progress made under the Scottish government’s Coming Home Implementation Plan. This plan, published in 2022, had committed to facilitating a move out of hospital to independent living for people affected by March 2024, and to prevent new unnecessary admissions for anything other than medical need.

In Tick Tock: A Human Rights Assessment of Progress from Institutionalisation to Independent Living in Scotland, the commission finds that the Scottish government’s Coming Home Implementation Plan is not delivering the human right to independent living and has not been fully implemented. 

The commission has found evidence of direct violations of Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and also serious concerns about potential violations of the European Convention on Human Rights obligations enshrined in the Human Rights Act 1998, such as Article 5, the right to liberty, and Article 8, the right to respect for private and family life.

Based on publicly available data, the commission has found that just over £12.5 million of a £20m public fund called “the Community Living Change Fund” remained unspent going into the final year of the fund.

The commission reports that some of the money, which ought to have been spent on independent living, was not spent supporting people in the way intended but rather to refurbish institutional settings. This would be in direct contravention of the requirements of the right to independent living.

As a priority, the commission recommends that the Scottish government now urgently develops a new approach to leading change to uphold the human rights of people who have learning disabilities and autism, using the framework developed by the commission in the report to guide a human rights based approach to change, which will help Scotland comply with its human rights obligations. 

Professor Angela O’Hagan, chair 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 Nation 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.

“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.”