The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) is an international leader in developing and implementing human rights budgeting. Below is a case study of the human right to food in Scotland prepared by the SHRC. This study begins by identifying Scotland's international human rights obligations. The SHRC then analyzes the food situation in Scotland, designs responses, and identifies revenue constraints and opportunities. Key questions to consider during the process appear at the end of the case study. More information about the Scottish Human Rights Commission's approach to human rights budgeting is available here.

Scotland’s international human rights obligations and commitments

Scotland is part of the United Kingdom (U.K.), and its human rights treaty obligations are therefore based on the U.K.'s treaty ratifications. The U.K. has ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), so that treaty applies in Scotland. The ICESCR, Art 11(1), states: “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions…”

Further guidance is contained within Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) General Comment No. 12: The Right to Adequate Food (Art. 11): “The right to adequate food is realised when everyone has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement. The right will be realised progressively; however, States have a core obligation to take the necessary action to mitigate and alleviate hunger.”

Guidance on the core content of right to food states that food should be:

physically accessible and affordable to all
nutritious, safe to eat and culturally acceptable
sustainably produced

While this right will be realised progressively, the government has a minimum core obligation to take the necessary action to mitigate and alleviate hunger.

Even where resources are limited, the government must still introduce low-cost and targeted programmes to assist those most in need so that its limited resources are used efficiently and effectively.

Analysis of the human rights concerns relating to food in Scotland

According to the SHRC, much of the necessary assessment of the human rights concerns relating to food in Scotland is included in the evidence submitted to the Scottish Government’s Consultation on the Good Food Nation. This is a decade-long policy initiative setting a goal that by 2025, Scotland will be “a Good Food Nation, where people from every walk of life take pride and pleasure in, and benefit from, the food they produce, buy, cook, serve, and eat each day.” Here are some of the findings from the Consultation:

-- Availability: Land ownership is prohibitively expensive for most new entrants, the majority of tenancies are short-term and insecure; 46% of farms are failing to recover their annual costs; Agriculture and related land-use accounts for 23% of Scotland’s total climate change emissions.

-- Accessibility: 20% of people in Scotland live in relative poverty after housing costs; 50% of older people admitted to hospital are undernourished.

-- Adequacy & Quality: 2/3rd of adults and 1/3rd of children in Scotland are overweight or obese; All of the Scottish Dietary Goals have been missed every year since monitoring began in 2001; Pesticide residues are found in 46% of fresh food sold in Scotland; No comprehensive action taken to reduce the need for food banks.

In 2016, the CESCR informed the U.K. government that it was: “…concerned about the lack of adequate measures adopted by the State party to address the increasing levels of food insecurity, malnutrition, including obesity, and the lack of adequate measures to reduce the reliance on food banks.”

Exploring all of these aspects of the right to food in Scotland helps identify where the Scottish government needs to focus its resources and action.

Designing policies that respond to those concerns

The CESCR recommended in 2016 that: “the State party develop a comprehensive national strategy for the protection and promotion of the right to adequate food in order to address food insecurity in all jurisdictions of the State party and to promote healthier diets…. the State party introduce higher taxes on junk foods and sugary drinks and consider adopting strict regulations on the marketing of such products, while ensuring improved access to healthy diets”.

The Good Food Nation agenda provides the opportunity for the Scottish Government to formulate resourced strategies and plans, incorporating indicators, benchmarks and time-bound targets (including budgetary), which are achievable and designed to assess progress in the realisation of the right to food. This may also include:

adopting the laws and policies necessary for the realisation of the right to food or revising the laws and policies which may negatively affect it;
establishing the institutional mechanisms necessary for coordinating multi-sectoral efforts to realise the right to food; and
establishing recourse mechanisms which can provide remedies for violations of the right to food.
In exploring allocations key questions for this example could include: What has been allocated to policies/programmes that have an impact on realising the right to food – for example:

o Free School meals

o Vouchers for pregnant women/ mothers of babies; people in receipt of social security o Sustainable farming subsidies

o Real living wage o Health living/diet initiatives (eg. for general public, targeted at schools, parents)

o Programmes to target food poverty amongst those over 65 resulting in negative impact on health co-morbidities, (eg funding of supports like Food Train)

o Programmes aimed at reducing food waste/ unused food redistribution schemes.

o Inspectorates – e.g. Food Standards Agency – whose remit includes protecting the public’s right to safe food.

How have allocations changed over time?
How do allocations compare to other areas of the budget?
Has allocation had the maximum beneficial impact on the enjoyment of rights? Who has benefited?

Resource Expenditure

Often what really matters the most is actual spending. If a government has not spent all allocated funds then it has not made full use of maximum available resources. Therefore, it is also important that during cycles of in-year or midyear reviews that a government reviews whether their budget allocations are being spent effectively. Key questions include:

Did the use of funds have the desire impact and deliver the anticipated outcomes?
If not, was this because actions were not adequately resourced?
Or, were resources allocated to the wrong policy levers?
Has a government spent what it said it was going to spend during the course of the year? In other words, have allocated funds been spent as planned?
If allocated funds have not been spent, how have they been reallocated?
Was the reallocation process transparent, participative and accountable?

In 2021, Scotland submitted a report to the UN Special Rapporteurs on the Right to Food, and on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, spelling out in detail the programs that Scotland had adopted to address food insecurity. More specific information about Scotland's initiatives, which are framed around dignity and respect, is available here.