Tag: human rights

TUC welcomes civil liberties’ groups condemnation of ministers’ attack on the right to strike

50 leading civil liberties organisations and rights groups slam the government’s strikes bill

The TUC has welcomed an open letter penned by 50 civil liberties organisations and rights groups slamming the government’s new anti-strikes bill as an attack on the fundamental right to strike.

The organisations including Liberty, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam and many more said the Bill will allow “a further significant and unjustified intrusion by the state into the freedom of association and assembly.”

The groups also warn of the “enormous scope” the legislation would give ministers to decide key provisions, including the minimum service levels, without proper parliamentary scrutiny.

The Bill was back in parliament yesterday for its third reading.

The TUC has launched a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to discover why the government published the Bill without a required impact assessment.

Previous government advice – published in the Autumn – warned that minimum service levels in transport could poison industrial relations, and lead to more frequent industrial action. 

Despite this warning, the Conservatives are now proposing to extend minimum service levels to a range of other sectors including – health, education, fire, border security and nuclear decommissioning.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Ministers are launching a brazen attack on the right to strike – a fundamental British liberty.

“This draconian legislation would mean that when workers democratically vote to strike, they can be forced to work and sacked if they don’t comply. 

“It is little wonder that civil liberties organisations up and down the country are lining up to condemn this spiteful Bill.

“It is undemocratic, unworkable and almost certainly illegal. And crucially it will likely poison industrial relations and exacerbate disputes rather than help resolve them.”

On the need for ministers to come clean about the true scope of the Bill, Paul Nowak added: “Instead of levelling with the public about the bill’s draconian nature, ministers are railroading it through without proper scrutiny or consultation.

“With inflation running at over 10%, the last thing working people need is for ministers to make it harder to secure better pay and conditions.

“It is shameful that parliamentarians are being forced to vote blindly on such far-reaching new laws. We urge MPs from all parties to vote against this nasty Bill.”

Letter in full – also found on the Liberty website

Dear Secretary of State,

Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill

We are writing to you as organisations concerned with the protection of civil liberties in this country to urge you to reconsider the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill.

The right to strike is a fundamental liberty.

In Great Britain it is already highly constrained by detailed rules concerning balloting, notice periods and picketing.

We believe the proposals for minimum service levels during industrial action will unfairly constrain the activities of trade unions and their members by allowing a further significant and unjustified intrusion by the state into the freedom of association and assembly.

The government has produced no evidence that such draconian measures are necessary. Voluntary life-and-limb cover has long been a feature of industrial action by essential workers.

This Bill has the potential to cause significant damage to fair and effective industrial relations in this country by making it harder to resolve disputes. Indeed the government itself has acknowledged that minimum service levels risk leading to an increased frequency of strikes.

We are also concerned by the lack of detail in the Bill, and the enormous scope it gives you and your successors as Secretary of State to decide key provisions, including the minimum service levels themselves, free from proper Parliamentary scrutiny.

In particular, the vast power given to Ministers to amend or revoke primary legislation, including Acts that do not even exist yet, is an extraordinary denial of the duty of our elected representatives to legislate on our behalf.

The Bill will expand the power of Ministers over Parliament and employers over workers, undermine rights protections, and inject uncertainty and precarity into the lives of millions of people who may now face dismissal for going on strike.

We urge you to reconsider these plans for an unwarranted curtailment of freedom of assembly and association

Martha Spurrier, Director, Liberty

Justine Forster, CEO, Advocacy Focus

Robert Rae, Co-Director, Art27 Scotland

Clive Parry, England Director, Association for Real Change

D ame Sara Llewellin, Chief Executive, Barrow Cadbury Trust

Silkie Carlo, Director, Big Brother Watch

Rosalind Stevens, Project Manager, Civil Society Alliance

Brian Gormally, Director, Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ)

Isobel Ingham-Barrow, CEO, Community Policy Forum

Megan Thomas, Policy and Research Officer, Disability Wales

Ele Hicks, Engagement, Research, and Policy and Influencing Manager, Diverse Cymru

Andrea Simon, Director, End Violence Against Women Coalition

Clare Moody, Co-CEO, Equally Ours

Kyle Taylor, Founder, Fair Vote UK

Peter Wieltschnig, Policy & Networks Officer, Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX)

Clare Lyons, Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

Nick Dearden, Director, Global Justice Now

John Gaskell, Chair, Grassroots for Europe

Areeba Hamid & Will McCallum, Co-Executive Directors, Greenpeace UK

Declan Owens, Co-Chair, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers

Kevin Hanratty, Director, Human Rights Consortium Northern Ireland

Mhairi Snowden, Director, Human Rights Consortium Scotland

Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director, Human Rights Watch

Deborah Coles, Executive Director, INQUEST

Zehrah Hasan, Advocacy Director, The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)

Jess McQuail, Director, Just Fair

Nimrod Ben-Cnaan, Head of Policy and Profile, Law Centres Network

Barry Gale, Group Leader, Mental Health Rights Scotland

Fizza Qureshi, CEO, Migrants’ Rights Network

Zara Mohammed, Secretary General, Muslim Council of Britain

Kevin Blowe, Campaigns Coordinator, Netpol

Mark Kieran, CEO, Open Britain

Kate Flannery, Secretary, Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign

Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive, Oxfam GB

Becky Peters, Director (Interim), People’s History Museum, Manchester Police Spies Out Of Lives

Lubia Begum-Rob, Director, Prisoners’ Advice Service

Ariane Adam, Legal Director, Public Law Project

Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director, René Cassin, the Jewish Voice for Human Rights

Agnes Tolmie, Chair, The Scottish Women’s Convention

Sue Tibballs, Chief Executive, Sheila McKechnie Foundation

Susan Cueva, Chair, Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC)

Chris Jones, Director, Statewatch

Louise Hazan, Co-Founder, Tipping Point UK

Chris Brian, Researcher, Undercover Research Group

Katrina Ffrench, Director, UNJUST C.I.C

Tom Brake, Director, Unlock Democracy

Bob Miller, Secretary, Wearside Amnesty International

Joyce Kallevik, Director, Wish

Raewyn Jones, Interim CEO, Work Rights Centre

Boyack calls for legal right to food as Edinburgh food bank use soars

Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack has said next year must be the year Scotland enshrines a statutory Right to Food in law, as figures show food bank use soaring in Edinburgh.

The Trussell Trust’s mid-year statistics show that the number of food parcels handed out in Edinburgh has soared by 35 per cent since 2017.

The number of parcels given to children has risen even more drastically, increasing by an appalling 77 per cent, with 10,378 parcels being given out in the space of just six months.

This includes a shocking 3,189 parcels for children in the City of Edinburgh whose parents need urgent support now. Its worrying that the number of these parcels has risen by 29 per cent since 2017.

Scottish Labour have said this proves there must be no more delays to the introduction of a legal right to food in Scotland.

Scottish Labour have long campaigned for a statutory right to food in Scots law. The SNP and the Greens both backed this policy in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, however in May the SNP-Green government voted against Labour’s attempt to introduce a Right to Food during the Good Food Nation Bill. 

Commenting, Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said: “As the cost of living crisis piles pressure on households, more and more people in Edinburgh are being forced to turn to food banks.

“Families are at breaking point and parents are struggling to feed their children.

“It is more urgent than ever that we enshrine people’s right to food in Scots law, but the SNP-Green government keep kicking the can down the line.

“There is no more time to delay – this year must be the year we embed the right to food in law at last.”

Trussell Trust Mid Year Statistics 2022-23 – 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022:

Local Authority     Number of parcels for children Total number of parcels distributed Increase in parcels for children compared to 2017 Increase in total parcels compared to 2017 
Aberdeen City1,2733,57697%168%
Aberdeenshire1,2434,315143%149%
Angus3881,335-5%-29%
City of Edinburgh3,18910,37829%35%
Dumfries and Galloway5842,1622681%1088%
Dundee City2,6567,675200%139%
East Ayrshire1,0273,367115%116%
East Dunbartonshire9223,19573%67%
East Lothian2,0585,488217%197%
East Renfrewshire9932,81144%69%
Falkirk1,3344,27644367%3215%
Fife3,1768,397107%91%
Glasgow City6,27115,61413%5%
Highland1,3753,69154%13%
Inverclyde7103,00829%38%
Midlothian1,5353,073225%136%
Moray– –  
Na h-Eileanan Siar– –  
North Ayrshire6202,528-40%-26%
North Lanarkshire1,7334,805250%197%
Orkney Islands11239026%48%
Perth and Kinross1,1393,674125%64%
Renfrewshire1,3084,29013%2%
Scottish Borders10230410100%3700%
Shetland Islands172841  
South Ayrshire1,3294,016130%88%
South Lanarkshire2,7317,84895%73%
West Dunbartonshire– –  
West Lothian1,8005,316169%156%

*Figures compare 1 April to 30 September 2017 with the same period in 2022.

Source: https://www.trusselltrust.org/news-and-blog/latest-stats/mid-year-stats/

Gender Recognition Reform Bill passed

Improving the legal recognition system for trans people

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill has been passed by the Scottish Parliament.

The legislation improves the system by which transgender people can apply for legal recognition through a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

Trans people aged 16 and older applying for a GRC will be required to make a legally binding declaration that they are already living in their acquired gender and intend to do so permanently.

The Bill includes safeguards against misuse of the system. It will be a criminal offence for applicants to make a false application. A new statutory aggravator and a risk‑based approach in relation to sex offences strengthen these protections.  

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said: “This is an historic day for equality in Scotland with the Gender Recognition Reform Bill being approved by parliament and by members of all parties.

“It simplifies and improves the process for a trans person to obtain a gender recognition certificate – which many currently find intrusive, medicalised and bureaucratic.

“The legislation makes no change to the reserved Equality Act 2010 and that principle is enshrined in the Bill. As I have made clear, the Scottish Government continues to support the provision of single-sex services and the rights of women.

“The passing of this bill is a significant step forward in creating a more equal Scotland, where trans people feel valued, included and empowered.”

Background

Factsheet and background to the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

Scotland prepares to join Global Climate Justice Day of Action

Campaigners will today march through Edinburgh as part of Global Day of Action for climate justice during the UN Climate Conference COP27 in Egypt.

The March will demand action on the cost of living that also helps address the climate crisis. The route through the capital will highlight the banks, polluters and governments who are driving climate breakdown, as well as the resulting impacts on the lives and livelihoods of people around the world.

Organisers say the event will draw attention to the importance of upholding human rights in responding to the climate crisis, here in the UK and world-wide, as the issue of brutal repression of civil society in Egypt comes under the spotlight.

The family-friendly march through the city will be one of over 40 events across the UK and Ireland on a Global Day of Action for Climate Justice.

Mary Church, Friends of the Earth Scotland commented: “As world leaders gather once again to negotiate the future of humanity, thousands of people are marching to demand solutions to the climate crisis that put people and the planet first.

“The solutions to climate change are within grasp and only require the political will to deliver them urgently. Governments need to stop prioritising the demands of big polluters and start listening to the people instead. Putting an end date on oil and gas well within the decade, with a just transition to reliable, affordable renewables will help tackle the cost of living crisis as well as slashing emissions.

“There can be no climate justice without human rights, yet governments around the world including here in the UK are clamping down on civic space.

“We stand in solidarity with those already experiencing the impacts of climate breakdown and with the people of Egypt who are being denied their human rights by a brutal regime.

“We support the call of the Egyptian human rights movement for the release of all those who are being unjustly detained including British citizen and human rights defender Alaa Abd El Fattah who is on hunger strike in prison.”

Global Justice Now will join the march with protests outside HSBC bank, drawing attention to the bank’s role in charging high interest rates for debt repayments from African countries.

Countries in the Global South are currently spending 5 times more on unjust debt repayments than they are addressing the impact of the climate crisis.

Liz Murray, head of Scottish campaigns Global Justice Now said: “This profit-driven system is hurting us all – here in the UK and around the world. And countries in the global south are getting hit particularly hard.

“They’re suffering some of the worst impacts of climate change, despite having played almost no part in causing it, and they’re additionally burdened by enormous debts. Banks here in Scotland are implicated in that – with companies like HSBC and BlackRock making big profits from the interest on those debts and refusing to cancel them.”

Natasha Ion, climate campaigner at Banktrack, said their organisation would be outside Santander bank on Hanover Street highlighting the fact that world’s largest banks have pumped $4.6 trillion dollars into fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement was signed.

Natasha commented: “The climate march will tell banks that they must go beyond burning, and stop financing the extractivism that is wrecking the planet.

“The fossil fuel industry is one of the main drivers of climate change, and has been implicated in endless human rights violations, primarily against Indigenous communities and those on the frontlines of extraction in the Global South.

“Commercial banks also finance major companies guilty of mass deforestation in regions such as Latin America. The highly polluting meat and dairy industry, with massive business like JBS at the centre, has consistently encroached on indigenous lands and been active in illegal deforestation.”

Campaigners are demanding an end to new fossil fuels projects and will be focusing on the UK Government who are currently considering approving the vast new Rosebank oil field.

Mary O’Brien, a grandmother of 10 who is involved in the Stop Rosebank campaign said: “Given the urgency and seriousness of the climate emergency, it is unbelievable that we are even having to fight against new oil and gas fields like Rosebank.

“But thousands of people across the UK and around the world are coming together to stop these climate-wrecking projects and to build that better future.

“I’m doing this for my grandchildren and for future generations, so that they can have a liveable planet. Join us on the march as we demand a rapid and fair transition away from fossil fuels to reliable, affordable renewables.”

March starting point is at 12pm, Saturday 12 November at St Andrew Square, Edinburgh EH2 2LL.

The route of the march will pass six points that highlight different demands for climate justice:

1. St Andrew Square – Make Polluters Pay

There will be a large installation of the ’scales of justice’, a performance by the Extinction Rebellion ‘red rebels’ as well as some stalls run by migrant/global justice groups.

2. HSBC Bank, 76 Hanover Street –  Cancel all Debt to Global South Countries

There will be several people on stilts dressed as bankers who are robbing Africa, as well as banners with key messages around debt.

3. Santander Bank, 31 Hanover Street  – End Fossil Finance

The theme is banks financing destructive projects across the world – specifically large scale cattle farming in the Amazon. There will be large trees and people dressed as cows.

4. East Market St – Solidarity with Egypt: Free All Political Prisoners

The street will be lined with posters and banners calling on the Egyptian government to free political prisoners, and for the UK Government not to come home without British citizen Alaa Abd El-Fattah.

5. UK Government building on Sibbald Walk – No New Fossil Fuel Projects

The theme is no new oil and gas/ and Stop the Rosebank oil field. There will be big banners and large and small roses decorating the square in front of the building.

6. Scottish Parliament –  End the Cost of Living Scandal – Just Transition Now

The theme is cost of living/ energy price crisis. When the march arrives at Parliament attendees will be given placards with related demands and encouraged to form a ring around the Parliament.

March ends 2:30pm.

UK Bill of Rights condemned

‘Freedom of speech and the views of elected lawmakers will be given greater weight in law’ under a Bill of Rights introduced to the Westminster Parliament yesterday. The Bill has been condemned by the Scottish Government, who say the proposals are ‘shocking and unnecessary’.

  • Freedom of speech to be given greater weight in law
  • New permission stage in court to prevent trivial legal claims wasting taxpayers’ money
  • Allows future laws to make it harder for foreign criminals to frustrate deportation process

The Bill will ensure courts cannot interpret laws in ways that were never intended by Parliament and will empower people to express their views freely.

At the same time, it will help prevent trivial human rights claims from wasting judges’ time and taxpayer money. A permission stage in court will be introduced requiring people to show they have suffered a significant disadvantage before their claim can go ahead.

The Bill will also reinforce in law the principle that responsibilities to society are as important as personal rights. It will do this by ensuring courts consider a claimant’s relevant conduct, like a prisoner’s violent or criminal behaviour, when awarding damages.

The Bill will make clear that the UK Supreme Court is the ultimate judicial decision-maker on human rights issues and that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights does not always need to be followed by UK courts.

Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab said: “The Bill of Rights will strengthen our UK tradition of freedom whilst injecting a healthy dose of common sense into the system.

“These reforms will reinforce freedom of speech, enable us to deport more foreign offenders and better protect the public from dangerous criminals.”

The Bill of Rights will make it easier to deport foreign criminals by allowing future laws to restrict the circumstances in which their right to family life would trump public safety and the need to remove them.

It will mean that under future immigration laws, to evade removal a foreign criminal would have to prove that a child or dependent would come to overwhelming, unavoidable harm if they were deported.

As a result, any new laws will curb the abuse of the system that has seen those convicted of hurting their own partners and children evade removal by claiming it would breach their right to family life in the UK.

The Bill of Rights will also:

  • Boost freedom of the press and freedom of expression by introducing a stronger test for courts to consider before they can order journalists to disclose their sources.
  • Prevent courts from placing new costly obligations on public authorities to actively protect someone’s human rights and limit the circumstances in which current obligations apply, for example, police forces having to notify gang members of threats towards them from other gangs.
  • Insulate the Government’s plans to increase the use of prison Separation Centres against legal challenge from extremist offenders claiming ‘a right to socialise’.
  • Recognise that trial by jury is a fundamental component of fair trials in the UK.
  • Prevent human rights from being used as a way to bring claims on overseas military operations once alternative options are provided by upcoming legislation.
  • Confirm that interim measures from the European Court of Human Rights under Rule 39, such as the one issued last week which prevented the removal flight to Rwanda, are not binding on UK courts.

This will be achieved while retaining the UK’s fundamental commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights.

UK BILL OF RIGHTS CONDEMNED

Call for Scottish Parliament to be consulted

Proposals to repeal the Human Rights Act are a “shocking and unnecessary” attempt to remove safeguards afforded to every member of society, Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie has said.

Putting on record the Scottish Government’s unequivocal opposition to the UK Government’s Bill of Rights, published today, Ms McKelvie stressed that the Scottish Parliament would have to agree to any changes affecting the devolution settlement.

Ms McKelvie said: “This shocking and unnecessary legislation seeks to put UK Ministers above some of the most fundamental checks and balances that underpin our democracy.

“The fact remains that we do not need a new Bill of Rights. The Human Rights Act is one of the most important laws passed by the UK Parliament. For more than 20 years it has delivered fairness and justice – protecting our rights to privacy and liberty, freedom of expression and peaceful protest. It has prevented discrimination, inhumanity and the abuse of power.

“The UK Government’s Rwanda policy has been challenged in the European Court of Human Rights. This legislation appears to be part of its response – an attempt to remove safeguards protecting every member of our society.

“As a founding signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights, the UK Government should be championing international human rights standards and the rule of law. Instead its Ministers appear intent on damaging the UK’s global reputation.

“I would urge them to stop this act of vandalism which will have an impact on public bodies that must adhere to it. The UK Government must also remain fully committed to the European Convention on Human Rights and to membership of the Council of Europe.

“The Human Rights Act is built into the heart of the devolution settlement, and any legislation that breaches the Act has no force in law. Let me make clear that it would therefore be wholly unacceptable to make changes affecting Scotland without the explicit agreement of the Scottish Parliament.

“I am proud that the Scottish Government is treading a different path, showing human rights leadership by protecting and enhancing our rights and freedoms, with plans for future Scottish legislation to extend devolved human rights safeguards even further.”

In March the Scottish and Welsh Governments issued a joint statement on Human Rights Act reform.

Last year’s Independent Human Rights Act Review, set up by the UK Government, concluded that there was no case for radical changes to the Act.

Tackling inequalities through economic recovery in Scotland

A new Centre of Expertise in Equality and Human Rights to put human rights and equality at the heart of economic policy development is being established.

The Centre, an action from Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation, will see government working with leading experts to build knowledge and skills among policy officials to address injustice and economic inequality.

Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said: “Our vision for Scotland is to create a wellbeing economy where our society is thriving economically, socially and environmentally, and in which we deliver prosperity for all Scotland’s people and places.

“By focusing on wellbeing and fair work, we can deliver higher rates of employment and wage growth, to reduce poverty – particularly child poverty – and improve health and quality of life for disadvantaged families and communities.

“The Centre of Expertise in Equality and Human Rights will advance our understanding of how equality and human rights should influence the economic policy-making process.

“This includes work in areas to remove barriers to employment for disabled people, women, those with care experience and minority ethnic groups while also tackling poverty through fair pay and conditions. 

“Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation identified challenges to overcoming inequality across the economy, but also opportunities to build a fairer and more equal society with opportunities for all to succeed.”

The Scottish Government will develop the centre in partnership with stakeholders such as Inclusion Scotland.

Senior policy advisor at Inclusion Scotland Bill Scott said: “This new centre is an exciting development which we believe will ensure that equalities and human rights are at the heart of future economic policy development and implementation.

“Its work will be crucial in first identifying and then tackling the inequalities that currently condemn far too many of Scotland’s disabled people to poverty and low pay.”

Asylum-seeking mums’ and babies’ human rights breached in unsuitable housing unit, says Children’s Commissioner

Mothers and babies seeking asylum in Scotland are still being housed in cramped and unsafe conditions that pose a significant risk of violating their human rights, according to a new report. 

The office of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland has found that despite assurances from provider the Mears Group in November 2021, many women and their children have not been moved to more suitable housing. 

They are currently placed in bedsit accommodation in Glasgow’s southside, by the Mears Group with full approval of Glasgow City Council and the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership (HSPC).

Mothers have told the Commissioner and his staff that there is no space to feed their babies, limited washing and cooking facilities, and little support. Cookers and heaters in the rooms are close to babies’ cots and it’s not safe to let them play, crawl, or stand. 

These conditions pose a significant risk of violating the children’s human rights, including the right to survival, safety and development; an adequate standard of living; the best possible health; family life, and the right to play. 

In April 2021, charities and grassroots organisations raised human rights concerns about the unit, formerly used to house single men. In June, the Commissioner’s team visited the accommodation and met mums and their children.  

Following discussions with the Mears Group, COSLA, and the HSPC, the Commissioner called for the mothers and babies to be rehoused and for Glasgow City Council, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and the HSCP to withdraw their support for the Home Office and Mears Group’s placements in the unit. 

A mum who lives in the unit with her child said: “The worst part is knowing my child isn’t safe. I’m in a new country, a new mum, and I don’t have support. I worry about my child far more than I worry about myself.” 

Nick Hobbs, Head of Advice and Investigations at the Children and Young People’s Commissioner, said: “I was shocked when the mothers in the unit showed me the conditions they are living in with their babies. This accommodation is totally unsuitable for mothers and babies, particularly those who have the added vulnerability of seeking asylum.  

“Asylum accommodation is a reserved matter to Westminster, but use of this unit has been approved by Glasgow City Council and the health board. Scottish public bodies have human rights obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and must ensure that all their decisions are consistent with the UNCRC. They could have withheld or withdrawn support and advocated for more suitable accommodation.  

“We must make sure all refugee and asylum-seeking children are treated with dignity and respect for their human rights. No child should live in conditions that violate their human rights and the Scottish Government should legislate urgently to create human rights-based statutory minimum housing standards for children.” 

The Mears Group advised the Commissioner’s office in November that the unit would be repurposed for single people only – but they have failed to move all the babies and their mothers to more appropriate accommodation. 

Mr Hobbs added: “We want the Mears Group to urgently relocate all the mothers and babies in this unit to suitable accommodation in Glasgow. They must also be given the support they need for that relocation and helped to integrate into their new communities.

“We also want the council, the health board, and HSPC to make a commitment to not approve asylum accommodation for children that violates their human rights.” 

Yvonne Blake, co-founder of Migrants Organising for Rights and Empowerment (MORE), said: “All mothers and babies should live in conditions that are conducive to the nurturing of their babies and the mothers’ health and well-being. 

“The unit is wholly unsuitable to have mothers and babies living there, especially during the first year of their lives which is crucial for development. They need to be housed where the mums have support and the children can play. 

“The authorities, including Glasgow City Council, must act on the recommendations in this report and act on the numerous calls by the mothers and supporting groups to rehouse the mothers and babies into suitable accommodation in the community where they have support.”  

Graham O’Neill, Policy Manager at Scottish Refugee Council, said: “We echo the Commissioner’s call for the women and children to be moved urgently to proper accommodation that is safe and fit for their needs as new mothers, babies and toddlers.  

“Too often, people’s needs are forgotten or neglected within the asylum system. Unfortunately, we are seeing inappropriate and substandard housing being used more often, including long-term stays in what should be very temporary accommodation and an increase in institutional settings such as hotel rooms and army barracks. This is completely inappropriate for people who have fled violent conflicts and are living with the ongoing effects of trauma.” 

Amanda Purdie, Head of Strategy and Public Affairs at Amma Birth Companions, said: “It is crucial that every parent and child in Scotland is supported to experience positive mental health and wellbeing throughout the perinatal period.

“We remain deeply concerned that the physical, social, and mental wellbeing of both mothers and babies in this unit is suffering as a direct consequence of their living environment.  

“We hope the findings of this report will incite swift action from Mears and all relevant authorities – not only to relocate current residents to suitable accommodation, but also to ensure that no child in Scotland is again placed within an environment that violates their human rights.” 

Following the report, the Commissioner recommends that:  

  • All mother and babies in the unit are urgently relocated  
  • COSLA and partners must amend procedures to ensure human rights duties of statutory agencies 
  • The Scottish Government should legislate to create human rights-based statutory minimum housing standards for children  
  • Glasgow City Council, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and the HSCP must commit to not approving any asylum accommodation for children that violates their human rights
Mother-and-Baby-Unit-ReportDownload

The UK Jewish community says: “Hands off our Human Rights Act!”

In response to the government’s review of the Human Rights Act, René Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights, has brought together cross communal Jewish support for its call to protect the Act.

Twelve rabbis and 29 communal organisations and individuals have signed up to support René Cassin’s submission of 8 March 2022 to the Ministry of Justice consultation on Human Rights Act reform. The signatories are very concerned that the plans, put forward by Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab, in December 2021, will reduce human rights and also access to those rights.

The Human Rights Act helps ordinary people in their everyday lives.

In relation to the right to freedom of religion, it has allowed people of faith to wear religious symbols to work and Muslims and Jews to bury their dead in line with their religious beliefs.

Other examples of those helped by the Act are an elderly couple able to stay together in the same care home and women seeking protection when fleeing domestic violence.

The law on same sex marriage came via the Human Rights Act as did the change in the police code that allows 17 year olds to be treated as children if they are arrested but not charged.

The Jewish community voices particular concern that the government proposals weaken human rights for minorities such as asylum seekers, offenders or foreigners.

Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director of Rene Cassin, said: “Through our experience of the Holocaust, we know where targeting minorities can lead. We reject the framing of the Human Rights Act review, which pits undeserving people against the majority.

“As a minority community ourselves, the Jewish community stands with other minority groups, such as Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, asylum seekers and refugees, victims of modern slavery and disabled people in demanding equal human rights.

“Reducing the rights of minorities and vulnerable people reduces the rights of everyone.”

ENABLE Scotland launches #MyOwnFrontDoor campaign

ENABLE Scotland launches campaign to address the ‘human rights emergency’ of hundreds of Scots who have learning disabilities being forced to live far away from their families or stuck in hospital. 

#MyOwnFrontDoor calls for urgent change to uphold the human rights of all adults with learning disabilities in Scotland to live in the community of their choice by 2023.

A new campaign launches today to unlock the door for hundreds of adults with learning disabilities to have the right to a home they choose and to live in the community of their choice, as Scotland’s largest member-led charity calls on society to address the “human rights scandal” facing people with learning disabilities in Scotland.

ENABLE Scotland’s latest campaign – #MyOwnFrontDoor – is being led by the charity’s 12,000 strong membership and supporter network to address what it describes as a “level of discrimination that we do not expect and would not expect other people in our society to bear“.

Due to lack of support to live in their own communities close to their loved ones, official data reveals that over 1,000 adults have been sent by Scottish local authorities to live ‘out of area’, meaning not in their home local authority area.  Beyond this, a further 67 people are living in hospital.  22% of these people have been there for more than 10 years.

Despite a Scottish Government report highlighting this issue in 2018, which recommended that better specialist social care support should be available across Scotland to support these individuals to live in the community of their choice, there has been no monitoring of progress, and ENABLE Scotland fear that the situation has deteriorated further.

The campaign is calling for urgent action to end hospital living for people with learning disabilities; and to put immediate plans in place to ensure that all people in delayed discharge or who have been displaced ‘out of area’ are supported to return to live in the home they choose and the community they choose, close to the people they love by 2023.   

Already the charity supports 6,000 people to live independently across Scotland, including some people who were previously living in hospital or other institutional settings for many years, or who have been fighting for their rights to live closer to their families.

People, like Nova, who ENABLE Scotland helped to support to move back to Scotland from England and live in her own house, close to her family. Before ENABLE Scotland got involved, Nova, who is in her early forties, was offered a placement in a care home for the elderly and it took more than a year to support her to get her own keys to her own front door.

Launching the campaign, John Feehan, an adult who has a learning disability and who is an active member of ENABLE Scotland, said: “It can be so hard to speak up for yourself when you have a learning disability.  It is even harder to make people listen.  

“That is why I am speaking out.   It makes me so angry that other people who have a learning disability are stuck in hospital, or being forced to live far away from their families.  This has been going on for too long now.

“Some people think that people who have a learning disability are not able to live in local communities like everyone else.  They think that that it is easier for them to be locked away in hospital, or to live with lots of other people who have a learning disability. 

“That isn’t true.  It is only because the right support is not there – it’s not the person’s fault.  Anyone can live anywhere with the right support.  If they don’t want to be where they are, people need help to get back to live close to their families or to get out of hospital – right now.”

Jan Savage, Director of ENABLE Scotland, said: “This is a human rights emergency. It is a national scandal – hidden in plain sight. People who have a learning disability – brothers, sisters, sons and daughters – are being forced to live far from home, to “live” in hospital, or to live in care settings where they are uncomfortable and unhappy.

“I am sure that people will be shocked to learn about the situation our fellow citizens find themselves in. But they should be reassured that better is possible.

“Clear and decisive action is now required to adopt a ‘Community First’ principle to end the practice of people being sent out of area; to nationally invest in high quality, consistent, specialist social care support to be available in every community; and to stop building new multi bed units for people who have a learning disability. These are not the solution – they perpetuate the problem.

“We cannot wait any longer. People who have learning disabilities are being subjected to a level of discrimination that we would not, and do not, expect other groups in our society to bear.

“We are determined that this campaign will start a movement for change as each and every one of us stand up for the human rights of all people with learning disabilities in 2022. The keys to unlocking their own front door are in our hands.”

John Dalrymple, Director of Radical Visions, said: “Everything we know about the disastrous effects of segregation and exclusion and all the evidence we have about good social care practice argues for an immediate halt to the placement of people in institutions.

“Everything we say we believe about basic humanity, independent living and universal human rights compels us to support campaigns like #myownfrontdoor and ensure that in future no-one is denied a home of their own.”

My-Own-Front-Door-Campaign-ReportDownload

A new campaign report from the charity – My Own Front Door – proposes five key steps that public bodies must take now to unlock the right to an own front door for people who have a learning disability. 

The five keys are:

  • Close all Assessment and Treatment Unit (ATU) beds and end the practice of Scottish citizens being sent out of the country.
  • Immediately implement a Community First principle for the commissioning of support for all adults and children who have a learning disability in Scotland – ending the commissioning of multi bed units.
  • Invest nationally in a Specialist Provider Network to improve local support in every area in Scotland.
  • Maintain a national at-risk register and ensure that everyone identified on this has a plan by 2023 to come home to the community of their choice.
  • Create a national Community Living Panel to ensure oversight and accountability of decision making about individual placements.

As part of this campaign, the charity is offering support and advice to any individual or family who is affected by this issue, and is asking members of the public to raise the issue directly with their local MSPs.

To join the movement, act, share, speak up and get informed, please visit:

www.enable.org.uk/myownfrontdoor.

‘Conversion practices have no place in Scotland’

Expert group to advise on ban in Scotland

An expert group is to be established to advise the Scottish Government on the banning of conversion practices, which aim to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The group will include people with personal experience of conversion practices as well as representatives from LGBTI organisations, faith and belief communities, mental health professionals and academics.

The Scottish Government has committed to introducing legislation to end conversion practices as comprehensively as possible within devolved powers by the end of 2023.

It is anticipated the expert advisory group will begin its work early next year and this, alongside recommendations from the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee and other evidence and research, will inform the Scottish Government’s approach.

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said: “We are clear about the need to end conversion practices in Scotland –  ensuring that everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, is safe from them. These practices are harmful, discriminatory, and have no place in our society.

“Work is now underway to establish an expert advisory group on banning conversion therapy and its remit will include recommending an agreed definition of conversion practices.

“We will explore how legislation can best protect and support those who need it, while ensuring that freedoms – including freedoms of speech, religion, and belief – are safeguarded.

“We are also considering what non-legislative steps we can take to end conversion practices, and support survivors.”

The 2021-22 Programme for Government commitment to end conversion practices is also part of the shared policy programme between the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party.

The remit of the new expert advisory group will include:

  •      recommending an agreed definition of conversion practices;
  •      drawing together existing data and evidence on conversion practices, including international practice; 
  •      advising on potential actions to ban, end, or reduce conversion practices;
  •      advising on support for victims and survivors;
  •      advising on aligning any ban with commitments to protect freedom of expression and freedom of religion, in line with existing legislation;
  •      advising on how mental health services, religious bodies and other professionals should be supported to provide appropriate services to people seeking help and advice in relation to their sexual orientation or gender identity