THE Scottish government is failing to meet its human rights obligations to provide Scots with an adequate standard of living, a damning study found today.

In a new assessment of poverty as a human rights issue, the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) outlines evidence that people in Scotland are facing human rights violations.

The commission warned that the Scottish government’s steps to alleviate poverty have not been enough and rates in Scotland, including for children, have not significantly fallen over the past decade.

Scottish Human Rights Commission chairwoman Professor Angela O’Hagan said: “Almost a million people in Scotland are living in poverty. People are hungry.

“People are homeless or living in inadequate housing and cannot access vital services like healthcare and social security.

“This is a serious human rights issue. The Scottish government and other public bodies are failing to meet their human rights obligations. 

“Poverty is not inevitable, it is the result of policy choices.

“Using a human rights framework gives a clear, practical and non-political framework to guide the decisions of policy makers and public service leaders.

“As Scotland’s National Human Rights Institution, we are calling on the Scottish government to take a deliberate and focused human rights-based approach to eradicating poverty.”

The SHRC is calling on the Scottish government to make reducing poverty a key outcome of public service reform and to close the gaps between poverty and access to justice.

It also wants to see the government and public bodies commit to a human rights-based approach to budget decisions, decision-making and service design.

The commission has called for a Human Rights Bill that provides a clear and enforceable route to alleviate poverty and provide pathways for accountability and access to justice.

Scotland’s social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville welcomed the commission’s challenge and agreed that public service reform can unlock greater prosperity.

She said: “It is about refining systems to deliver priorities — such as reducing the cost of living, eradicating child poverty, and improving access to healthcare and community-based support.

“Preventative, joined-up systems are exactly what this government is delivering to respect, protect and fulfil people’s rights.”