FOI Request - Duties under the HRA

Request 101002636707

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act relating to your bodies’ duties under the Human Rights Act (1998) and Scotland Act (1998) to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

Section 6 of the Human Rights Act obliges public authorities to comply with the ECHR and Sections 29 and 57 of the Scotland Act oblige the Scottish Parliament and Ministers to likewise act in a way compatible with the ECHR.  

The Human Rights Act framework establishes that; the ECHR rights form a common set of binding values among public bodies; public bodies must have human rights principles in mind when making decisions about people’s rights, and that human rights must be part of all policy.  

Specifically i would like to request any information you hold regarding:

1. How your authority has monitored and evaluated its compliance with the Human Rights Act and any outputs from the monitoring and evaluation process.
2. Specific actions taken to comply with the HRA and ECHR. For example only, this might include staff training, employment of a human rights lawyer to advise on policy, carrying out due diligence on any private bodies contracted or outsourced to (the HRA applies to all bodies performing a public function, including private companies), carrying out human rights impact assessments on policy.  
3. Human rights considerations related to any change of practice or services provided due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

I would like to request the information outlined in points 1 and 2 above for the calendar year of 2019, and points 1,2 and 3 for the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, March – September 2020. I would like the information broken down by these two time periods.

Response 07-12-2020

1. There is no formal monitoring and evaluation process in place that has led to any conclusions on this. A human rights impact assessment has been part of our process of Equality Impact Assessments throughout both periods for which the information is requested.

2. In October 2014 Moray Council held a seminar for senior managers and elected members on how to include human rights impacts in the process of Equality Impact Assessments. This can be viewed here.
     All committee reports are sent to the Equal Opportunities Officer for advise on equality and human rights implications before they are presented to elected members.
     In September 2019 Moray's Fostering and Adoption Team launched a rights-based approach for its service with various presentations on human rights and children's rights.
     In November 2020 Moray Council launched an online training tool on human rights, children's rights and how these are linked to the health and social care standards. This tool was developed to facilitate human rights training whilst maintaining social distance. There will be online follow-up meetings which will focus on specific cases involving human rights. This training was intended in the first instance for foster and adoption parents/carers but it is being promoted among staff across the services.

3. A major consideration during the pandemic has been to ensure that people whose first language isn't English (including BSL users) have access to information about Covid-19, council information and council services. Arrangements have been made with our face-to-face interpretation providers to ensure continuity of their service whilst maintaining social distancing.