Each year the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee looks at what the Scottish Government should consider during the development of its Budget.

The Committee previously agreed a three-year pre-budget scrutiny plan to look at each principle of human rights budgeting in turn:

• participation in year 1
• transparency in year 2
• accountability in year 3

This year the Committee will focus its work on Budget transparency. The Committee is particularly interested in transparency in the context of human rights budgeting, and the role of National Outcomes in supporting transparent and data-driven decision-making and mainstreaming equalities across portfolios.

The Committee’s scrutiny is also likely to explore the Scottish Government’s progress on implementing the recommendations made by the Equalities and Human Rights Budget Advisory Group (EHRBAG) in 2021.

The Committee is due to take evidence on this in the autumn of 2024.