Participation

This document sets out the principles, standards and code of best practice that underpin good independent advocacy practice. It has been developed for use across Scotland, to ensure that independent advocacy is being delivered consistently and is of the highest possible standard.

It also defines what the different types of advocacy are, why independent advocacy is important, and the links between independent advocacy and human rights principles.

This good practice guide sets out the law and basic principles related to independent advocacy. This guidance aims to help practitioners make sure that advocacy is encouraged and that the
advocate plays an important role in care and treatment, as intended by the legislation.

Several good practice examples and case studies are included.

The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 imposed a duty on local authorities and health boards to collaborate to ensure the availability of independent advocacy services in their area. The Act gave everyone with mental illness, learning disability, dementia and related conditions the right to access independent advocacy support.

This document offers good practice guidance about independent advocacy for adults being supported and protected under the Adult Support & Protection (Scotland) Act 2007, including at case conferences. It includes detail on the role of advocacy in general (and its links with human rights and trauma-informed practice), advocacy in individual Adult Support and Protection processes, advocacy during Large Scale Investigations, and advocacy with carers. The guidance also covers non-instructed advocacy, local planning, and offers several good practice pointers.

This hour-long webinar looks at what independent advocacy is and why advocacy would be involved from an ASP perspective. The different services describe their role in independent advocacy, and there are case studies showing advocacy in action.

This session was produced as part of ASP week 2025. It was created in collaboration with the network of different independent advocacy agencies in Dundee.

This is an ASPire webinar from November 2024. Its theme is self-evaluation and it has sessions from Ann-Marie Bruce (Chair of the national sub-group on self-evaluation), the Care Inspectorate (on the Quality Improvement Framework for Adult Support and Protection), Ronan Burke (on self-evaluation and hoarding), East Ayrshire Advocacy (on the ASP Lived Experience project) and Kenny O'Brien (on the NHS Public Protection Accountability and Assurance Framework).

This is a booklet, aimed at the public, that describes the different kinds of harm. This includes neglect, psychological harm, financial harm, physical harm, and sexual harm. It also provides guidance for people when they, or someone they know, is being harmed.

The booklet is available to download in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, Gaelic, Hindi, Polish, Punjabi, and Urdu.

This document offers good practice guidance to effective participation of adults being supported and protected under the Adult Support & Protection (Scotland) Act 2007, particularly in relation to ASP case conferences. It provides pointers as to how to facilitate meaningful engagement, taking a holistic view of the perspective and circumstances of the adult, including experience of trauma. Checklists and signposts to additional resources are also provided.

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 set out the requirement for Integration Authorities to include carer and lived experience representatives on their Integration Joint Boards (IJBs). While this guidance is aimed at those working in or alongside IJBs, it contains transferable messages for anyone who wishes to strengthen lived experience representation in their organisations, forums or groups.

How social services practitioners and people engage with one another is a complex process. Practitioners are influenced by organisational cultures and processes which invite and allow certain types of responses (and not others). They are also influenced by the ability of the practitioner to relate to the person they are working with. From the supported person’s perspective, this experience can be further complicated when they experience crisis, are stressed, fearful or feel under threat.