Human Rights: Incorporation and Implementation Oversight Board minutes - March 2025

Attendees and apologies

Members

• Kaukab Stewart MSP, Minister for Equalities (Chair)
• Professor Alan Miller, University of Strathclyde
• Professor Angela O’Hagan, Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC)
• Catherine Murphy, Engender
• Danny Boyle, BEMIS
• George Dodds, Public Health Scotland
• Gillian Hamilton, Education Scotland
• Heather Fisken, Inclusion Scotland
• Hussein Patwa, SNAP2 Co-chair
• John Wilkes, Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
• Juliet Harris, Together Scotland
• Kenneth Fowler, Creative Scotland
• Lucy Mulvagh, Alliance
• Cllr Maureen Chalmers, COSLA
• Michael Clancy, Law Society of Scotland
• Neil Cowan, Amnesty International
• Professor Nicole Busby, University of Glasgow (UoG)
• Rosemary Agnew, Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO)
• Dr Shivali Fifield, Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland
• Simon Cameron, COSLA

Apologies

• Charlie McMillan, Human Rights Consortium Scotland
• Emma Hutton, JustRight Scotland
• Rebecca Spillane, Improvement Service

Items and actions

Welcomes and introductions

The minister welcomed members to the inaugural meeting of the oversight board and introduced herself as chair of the board. The minister noted apologies and outlined the agenda for the meeting. 

The minister placed on record her thanks to members for accepting her invite to join the board and for their support during this period. She noted that members were issued with a draft terms of reference (ToR) for the board and the scottish government’s draft human rights incorporation and implementation delivery plan (the delivery plan), produced in December 2024 and covering activity until the commencement of the pre-election period in March 2026. 

Overview of the board’s purpose, proposed activity and draft terms of reference (ToR)

The minister gave an overview of the draft ToR for the board, highlighting key points such as the proposed remit of the board, its frequency of quarterly meetings, its membership list and its links to the wider human rights governance and engagement landscape. The board’s main focus is to discharge a general oversight function with regards to the delivery plan, and the actions and engagements within it.

Members reflected that the ToR could benefit from more clearly articulating how the board’s oversight function would work in practice, and how this was differentiated from giving advice and guidance to scottish ministers on their programme of human rights incorporation and implementation activity. It was noted that this point was important to clarify given the board’s varied membership – drawn from a mix of civil society, duty bearers and independent public bodies, as well as academia. Members also sought further information on how the board’s remit could capture wider rights implementation work happening beyond the ambit of the delivery plan, and also suggested the ToR should contain an explicit note on the upcoming 2026 parliamentary elections, as this bears upon the commitment to introduce the human rights bill next session. 

The minister thanked members for their input at this item. In terms of the points raised around clarifying the remit of the board, Trevor Owen noted that the board should feel like a dialogue, with members providing constructive challenge and scrutiny whilst collaborating on ways forward to ensure progress across the actions and engagements in the delivery plan. The minister confirmed that officials will circulate a redrafted ToR to reflect the discussion, for agreement via correspondence before the next meeting of the board. 

Overview of the delivery plan and update on progress

Trevor Owen updated members on the delivery plan and early progress made across the actions and engagements within it. Trevor highlighted that it is the scottish government’s intention to retain the delivery plan as a live document, that will evolve over its lifetime as work on rights incorporation and implementation develops. Of particular note was the work ongoing to publish a document before the summer recess setting out the scottish government’s detailed proposals for the human rights bill, building on extensive consultation and engagement to date and to help further develop the bill in advance of its introduction next parliamentary session. Members were also updated on progress around work on scope of the bill’s duties and engagement with the UK government here, as well as updates on the work of groups set up to drive forward actions around building the human rights capability of the public sector and the design of a tracker tool to act as a repository of recommendations from internation treaty bodies. The update concluded with a look ahead to upcoming activity in the periods ahead as noted in the delivery plan.

Members welcomed plans to engage widely on the detailed bill proposals once they are published. They asked for further clarity on what this engagement would look like as this would help members allocate appropriate resource to engagement on the detailed proposals. Members also noted the importance of ensuring that the detailed proposals for the bill are understood and developed alongside considerations on the wider equality framework, including lessons learned from ongoing activity around the reform of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) reform, and implementation of the UNCRC Act 2024. Members discussed the tracker tool working group, noting that it will be important to think ahead to the step beyond tracking and into a more action-oriented space with regards to the recommendations from international treaty bodies. Members closed this item by reflecting on the memberships of the different human rights governance and engagement groups – including this oversight board – and offered reflections on other organisations and types of organisations that could potentially join going forward. 

Officials noted the points raised with key actions captured below.

Next steps, monitoring the delivery plan and wider engagement

Neil Meehan outlined plans for monitoring progress on the actions in the delivery plan going forward, and how the scottish government proposes communicating this to the wider stakeholder community and those with an interest in the rights incorporation and implementation agenda. Neil emphasised that, in designing its refreshed human rights governance and engagement groups, the scottish government is keen to create an agile and responsive structure with clear channels of communication geared towards progressing the actions set out in the delivery plan over the next 12 months. The oversight board will be at the centre of these new structures, with wider interests engaged via ad hoc working groups. A newsletter communication will be issued to the wider stakeholder community and various networks between meetings of the oversight board, setting out progress and next steps under the delivery plan. This is to give stakeholders more consistent and timely updates on work across the bill and on early rights implementation actions, and help them to plan when or where to direct their time and efforts in engaging with to shape the policy outcomes they are most interested in.

Members welcomed this update. It was noted that engagement with the scottish parliament should also be prioritised, including the equality, human rights and civil justice committee who have an ongoing close interest in the rights incorporation and implementation agenda.  

Any other business

The minster thanked members for their time and contributions to this first meeting of the board. The next meeting of the board is expected to be held in June of this year, and officials will be in touch with further details.