People with learning disabilities and autistic people in Scotland are still being held in institutions in breach of their human rights, according to a new report from Scotland’s human rights watchdog.
The Scottish Human Rights Commission’s report identifies significant gaps in human rights standards and the progress made under the Scottish Government’s Coming Home Implementation Plan.
This plan, published in 2022, committed to facilitating the transition from hospital to independent living for people affected by March 2024 and preventing new unnecessary admissions for reasons other than medical need.
In addition, based on publicly available data, the Commission has found that just over £12.5 million of a £20 million public fund called “the Community Living Change Fund” remained unspent going into the final year of the fund.
It reports that some of the money that ought to have been spent on independent living was not spent supporting people in the way intended but rather refurbishing 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 with learning disabilities and/or 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, says: “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.
“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.”
In the meantime, the Commission is publishing a new film and a toolkit, co-authored by people who have lived in institutions, to help people affected by this issue identify and claim their human right to independent living.
