Human rights protection for some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland could be put at risk under provisions proposed in the UK Government's Welfare Reform Bill.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission has written to all Members of the Scottish Parliament today to highlight the potential risks of the Bill ahead of their debate on the Legislative Consent Memorandum on Thursday 22 December.

In the briefing the Commission highlights:

• The State has a positive obligation to ensure that individuals are not left in circumstances of destitution or hardship which violate the right to respect for private, home and family life, or circumstances that amount to inhuman or degrading treatment. The reality of implementing the Welfare Reform Bill is likely to be a series of cumulative negative impacts which could result in destitution for individuals who require ongoing and meaningful support. Without that support their human rights may be violated. 

• The Commission is concerned that the provisions in the Bill could have a disproportionately negative outcome on more vulnerable groups such as disabled people, certain ethnic minorities, kinship carers, larger families or single parent families and women. There is a requirement to guard against violations of the right to non discrimination. 

• Scrutiny of the Bill has yet to take into account international legal obligations. In particular, the right to an adequate standard of living and to social security are subject to the principle of progressive realisation - States must use their available resources and take deliberate, concrete and targeted steps towards achieving these standards. The Commission is concerned that scrutiny of the Bill has not as yet taken account of the requirements of international law in this regard,and that the measures are likely to amount to unjustifiable retrogression.

• The Bill appears to undermine the realisation of the rights contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, in particular the right to independent living, as well as the rights of children to an adequate standard of living under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UK has ratified both of these international treaties.

Read the full briefing note in PDF format.

Professor Alan Miller, Chair of the Commission, said: “The Commission joins the Joint Committee on Human Rights and a wide range of civil society bodies in expressing our concerns on the Welfare Reform Bill. The Bill as it is currently drafted is likely to have a profound impact on most vulnerable individuals, families and communities in Scotland. Protection for the public, especially for people with disabilities, children, carers, and older people is all the more necessary in the present economic climate when budgetary decisions need to be made in ways which do not disproportionately impact upon the most vulnerable in our community.

 “On Thursday MSPs should consider the relevant human rights standards and international legal obligations which would be affected by the Bill, and deliberate the wide potential impacts on people in Scotland.

“The Commission strongly recommends that careful monitoring is undertaken with particular attention to human rights concerns to ensure that the UK and Scotland does not breach its international legal obligations.”

On Thursday MSPs are due to debate a Legislative Consent Memorandum lodged by the Scottish Government in response to the UK Welfare Reform Bill 2011 which is currently undergoing Committee scrutiny in the House of Lords. There are five areas where the Bill triggers the need for legislative consent including data sharing, introduction of Universal Credits, introduction of Personal Independence Payment, changes to Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, and the establishment of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.

More information on the Welfare Reform Bill is available from the UK Government website - link.

On 8 December 2011 the Health and Sport Committee at the Scottish Parliament published a report on the Welfare Reform Bill - read the news release here.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights published its report on legislative scrutiny of the Welfare Reform Bill in December 2011

- read the report here.