A critical report published today by the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has found that public bodies are failing to guarantee fundamental rights to food, housing, and health for people living in the South of Scotland. The findings highlight significant gaps between internationally recognised economic, social, and cultural rights and the lived realities of residents in the region.
The report, which examines rights set out in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, indicates that the Scottish Government, local councils, and NHS boards are not meeting their basic obligations. This has led to the loss of vital local public services, including health and social care, and has left some individuals without secure housing, contributing to hidden homelessness.
Survey respondents expressed significant concerns about affording food, with over half (55%) worrying about costs and nearly half (46%) relying on or knowing someone who uses food banks. The report notes that charities are often left to address hunger due to a lack of State action. One respondent stated, “Food is generally far too expensive. I have to limit my spending as a low-income person… families have to spend such a big percentage of their earnings on food.” Another added, “There are some good voluntary services, but we should not have to rely on volunteers for basics like food.”
The SHRC identified three key barriers preventing people from accessing their rights: accessibility, due to poor transport links including ferries, centralised services, and digital exclusion; affordability, with rising costs forcing difficult choices between essential needs; and fragility, where support relies heavily on short-term funding and volunteers rather than sustained public investment.
Inequality is identified as a root cause behind many of these barriers, exacerbated by poverty, insecure incomes, and precarious work. The findings provide crucial local evidence for the SHRC’s ongoing work on poverty, as outlined in its Strategic Plan 2024 to 2028.
The Commission is urging the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament, local councils, and NHS boards to take urgent action. This includes strengthening human rights legislation and using public service reform to improve access to economic, social, and cultural rights. The SHRC expects a formal response from public authorities detailing their progress.
“"Economic, social and cultural rights are about our everyday lives and that means access to food, housing, transport and education, and even water. This new report highlights the gaps between the rights we are all entitled to and the lived reality of people’s lives across the South of Scotland, as their testimonies show. It is also a call to action for public authorities who manage and deliver services and who are duty bearers with obligations to protect and deliver on human rights obligations. People in the South of Scotland told us they feel distant from decision making. This report is about amplifying their voices and taking the evidence direct to the Scottish Parliament."
The report is the second in the SHRC’s series of local human rights monitoring reviews, covering eight council areas with a population of approximately 1.17 million people. The review involved community visits, an online survey, and analysis of over 200 public reports, engaging with 280 individuals.
