Quarterly Policy Round-Up – Member Exclusive

Dear members, 

Welcome to our latest quarterly update from the ALLIANCE policy team.

This edition covers activity from January to March 2026 and highlights some of the key areas where we’ve been working alongside members and partners to influence policy and practice. 

Scottish Parliament Election 

A big focus over the past quarter has been the fast approaching Scottish Parliament Election which will be held on 7 May. We marked a significant milestone in our election activity with the publication of our manifesto, Our Collective Voice. This was shaped throughout extensive engagement with members, and it was encouraging to hear at the launch event that many of you felt your contributions were clearly reflected. 

We also hosted a joint hustings event with Voluntary Health Scotland, “Prevention and Power: Holyrood, Health and Third Sector”, which brought together around 90 members and stakeholders to hear directly from candidates across all 6 parties. And we hosted our own hustings on 8 April, hearing from the main 6 parties on issues concerning social security, social care and human rights. 

Looking ahead, we will continue our election engagements, including a comprehensive post-election programme to connect with new and returning MSPs and Ministers. 

Social Care 

Social care reform remains a central priority for the ALLIANCE. Following sustained ALLIANCE engagement over several years, the Scottish Parliament approved regulations extending voting rights on Integration Joint Boards to people with lived experience, unpaid carers and third sector representatives. This is a significant step forward in embedding meaningful participation in decision making. 

We also held two member engagement sessions to inform our consultation response to the potential extension of Freedom of Information Scotland Act (FOISA) to the care home and ‘care at home’ sector. In our response we agreed, in principle, that FOISA should be extended but stressed that how FOISA is extended will be as important as the decision to extend it. You can read more about our response here. 

During this quarter, we engaged widely with partners including Marie Curie, the British Association of Social Workers and SAMH to discuss shared priorities and collaborative work. 

We also continued to support lived experience members involves in the interim National Care Service Advisory Board and contributed to discussion on workforce issues through the Poverty Alliance and Living Wage Scotland’s Pathways to Progress expert group. 

Human Rights 

Human Rights remains a key focus within the policy team, underpinning our approach to all of our policy workstreams. We participated in Scottish Government roundtables to inform the forthcoming Scottish Human Rights Bill on accountability and treaty incorporation and continued our involvement in key groups such as the Incorporation and Implementation Oversight Board and the Human Rights Capability Building Working Group. Through this engagement, we secured the public release of important information on treaty rights linked to the proposed Compliance Duty – helping to support more informed participation from members and stakeholders. 

We also strengthened our relationship with the Scottish Government’s Disability Equality team, creating opportunities for member involvement in both current and future Disability Equality Plans. Alongside this, we contributed to wider human right work, including participation in the SNAP Leadership Panel and ongoing collaboration with partners to support rights-based approaches in practice. 

Fair Finance 

This quarter, we supported the relaunch of the Scottish Campaign on Rights to Social Security (SCoRSS) in January with an in- person event in Stirling and contributed to national discussions on funding and social security. We submitted a response to the Future of Council Tax consultation, highlighting the need for sustainable funding for social care and the third sector. 

We also met with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice to discuss the Adult Disability Payment review, we welcomed many of the administrative and procedural changes being taken forward, but noted our disappointment that more substantial changes to eligibility criteria were not being taken forward in the short term. 

Climate Change 

Over the past quarter we have been focusing on developing our climate change workstream, particularly at the intersection of climate change, prevention, social determinants of health and structural inequality. This has also included engagement with partners to help inform our position and identify actions to take forward, including Public Health Scotland and Adaptation Scotland. 

More broadly, following our written evidence, the ALLIANCE was invited to give oral evidence on the Draft Climate Change Plan to the Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee with this evidence positively received and quoted twice in the Committee’s report. 

Health and Healthcare 

Very positively, many of our recommendations were reflected in the finalised Maternity Care Standards published by Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Informed directly by the lived experience of women accessing these services, the finalised standards include improvements in mental health provision, trauma informed care including enhanced bereavement support, a stronger focus on reducing inequalities and improved recognition of the full maternity pathway among others – demonstrating clear policy impact from our member-informed work. 

Our work on broader health policy included engagement in the Third Sector Collaborative on the Population Health Framework and continued participation in the Cross Party Group on Health Inequalities. 

We strengthened relationships with key partners, including CIPFA, to highlight the importance of prevention spending and the role of the third sector. This has opened up opportunities for further collaboration, including potential involvement in a Community of Practice on preventative spending. 

We also engaged with the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Law Reform team to better understanding upcoming priorities, with plans to involve members in future discussions. 

Thank you again for your continued engagement and support. As we move into a new parliamentary session, we know it will bring new opportunities to influence change and work together to improve outcomes across health and social care. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress in the next quarterly update.  

In the meantime, if you would like to get in touch with the policy team, please don’t hesitate to contact us at policy@alliance-scotland.org.uk