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Social Renewal Advisory Board report published

  • Area of Work: The ALLIANCE
  • Type: News Item
  • Published: 21st January 2021

Amongst the report's recommendations are key ALLIANCE priorities including further incorporation of international human rights laws.

Following months of engagement with the people and organisations most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Social Renewal Advisory Board (SRAB) have published their report. (this link will take you away from our website) Established in June 2020, the SRAB was tasked with reporting on ways to renew society in the aftermath of the pandemic, with a particular focus on addressing the structural inequalities that have worsened in that time. The finished report features 20 “Calls to Action”.

The ALLIANCE welcomes the publication of this report, and are pleased to see a specific call to action which directly reflects what we put forward in our submission to the call for ideas. Our response focussed on the importance of human rights, including taking a human rights based approach to budgeting and incorporating international laws into Scots Law.

Call to action 11 of the SRAB report is a call to “Incorporate key international human rights instruments into Scots Law so as to deliver real change.” The detail for this call also specifically asks for a commitment to human rights budgeting, and embedding co-production in the process of delivery, to ensure the voice of lived experience is at the centre of doing so.

Incorporation of human rights instruments into Scots Law is necessary for the full realisation of those rights. Doing so would put a duty on public bodies to uphold and deliver on those rights, improve understanding of rights and how to claim them, and give a clear route to legal redress for those whose rights have been breached. Similarly, a human rights based approach to budgeting would put these issues at the heart of decision making, rather than viewing them as peripheral concerns.

In December last year, we published our own report by Dr. Kasey McCall-Smith in partnership with Inclusion Scotland, which explored options for incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The ALLIANCE will be working over the course of the months ahead to build on the growing consensus in favour of incorporation of the UNCRPD, so that the rights of disabled people are at the forefront of renewal of the health and social care sector.

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