The Scottish Government has published its current thinking on the potential provisions of a Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence (LDAN) Bill, including proposals that could establish a broad right of access to independent advocacy for neurodivergent people and people with learning disabilities across Scotland. The LDAN Bill proposals are described by Scottish Government as “an important next step towards a potential Bill that could better protect, respect and promote the rights of these groups, within a devolved context.” SIAA, which has been contributing to the Bill’s development as part of the Stakeholder Panel, welcomes the direction of travel, whilst being clear that the real test will be whether ambition is matched by adequate funding and implementation.
What the Proposals Say
The proposals document, published in March 2026, sets out the Scottish Government’s current position on what a potential LDAN Bill could contain. On independent advocacy, it represents a significant shift from where the consultation process began.
During the initial consultation in 2023–24, the Scottish Government did not propose a single broad right to independent advocacy. Respondents pushed back on this, including SIAA. Our feedback was clear: a broad right to independent advocacy could make a positive difference to people’s lives. In light of that response, the Scottish Government has now stated it is “considering whether the proposed LDAN Bill could ensure that a broad right of access to independent advocacy exists for everyone within the Bill’s reach.”
This is a meaningful step forward. People covered by the LDAN Bill, people with learning disabilities and neurodivergent people, for example, autistic people, already have, in principle, a right of access to independent advocacy under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003. But, as the proposals document acknowledges, that right does not always function as broadly as intended. In practice, independent advocacy organisations are frequently asked to prioritise those subject to formal mental health legislation i.e. those detained in hospital, meaning many people who are entitled to independent advocacy support cannot access it. The LDAN Bill offers an opportunity to address that gap.
A Right That Needs to Work in Practice
SIAA welcomes the Scottish Government’s recognition that strengthening and extending the existing broad right, rather than simply legislating a duty to inform people that independent advocacy exists as was originally proposed, is the more effective route to improving provision.
We know this to be true. Independent advocacy works for people and for the wider system. Research by Social Finance has found that for every £1 invested in independent advocacy, approximately £7 is saved in NHS costs and £5 in local authority costs. When people are supported to have their voice heard early before situations escalate, they stay more connected to what matters to them, and costly crisis interventions become less likely. Independent advocacy is not a drain on public resources; it is one of the most effective ways of making them go further.
But a right that exists on paper and a right that people can actually access are two different things. Scotland has had experience of this gap. The 2022 Scottish Mental Health Law Review found that only around 5% of people with a legal right to independent advocacy under the 2003 Act can currently access it. SIAA’s own research has shown that access to independent advocacy in different settings, including justice settings, is determined primarily by funding and commissioning structures, not by need. That cannot be allowed to happen again with a new right.
The Case for Collective and Citizen Independent Advocacy
If individual independent advocacy is the most visible part of the current system, collective and citizen independent advocacy are the most undervalued, and arguably the most powerful when it comes to prevention. Yet they are the most vulnerable to funding cuts, and frequently the least well understood by commissioners. Any LDAN Bill that does not explicitly protect and resource these models will have missed something fundamental.
This matters directly for the LDAN Bill. It is worth being explicit: many of the organisations and groups that contributed to the Bill’s development, including through the panels the Scottish Government convened, are themselves doing collective advocacy, People First Scotland being one example of this. The lived expertise that shaped these proposals did not arrive from nowhere. It came from people who, through collective spaces, have developed the confidence, skills, and connections to engage with policy at all. As one participant at our January event put it: collective advocacy asks “what can we do about this?” and that question is precisely what drives the kind of co-production the Scottish Government says it wants.
Collective advocacy brings together people with shared experiences to explore common issues, support each other, and find a stronger voice to influence the decisions that shape their lives. As attendees at a January 2026 event hosted by SIAA and VOX Scotland on collective independent advocacy put it: it “flattens power dynamics,” and “breaks stigma”. Groups challenge systemic discrimination, hold services accountable, prevent crises by building peer support networks and skills, and create spaces where people can be their authentic selves. One group member described collective advocacy as a “springboard to other things” that builds skills and confidence, including, crucially, the confidence to engage with policy processes. Another was direct about the stakes: “These are life-changing groups and we need more of them.”
Citizen independent advocacy works in a complementary way. It involves unpaid citizens building long-term, one-to-one relationships with people who need support – relationships grounded in genuine connection rather than professional duty. For some people, their citizen advocate is the only person in their life who is not paid to be there. That has a preventative power that no public service can fully replicate: it keeps people connected to their communities, reduces isolation, and builds resilience before crisis arrives.
The costs and benefits paper published alongside the LDAN Bill proposals acknowledges that independent advocacy can contribute to preventing crisis points that require costlier interventions. This is true – but it understates the case, particularly for collective and citizen models. Collective and citizen models should not be framed as helpful additions to an individual independent advocacy system. They are the part of the independent advocacy ecosystem most directly oriented towards prevention, most embedded in communities, and most capable of driving systemic change from the ground up.
SIAA will be exploring the case for collective and citizen independent advocacy in the context of the LDAN Bill with its member organisations in the coming months.
What Needs to Happen Next
The Scottish Government’s proposals document is honest about the challenges involved. It acknowledges that more sustainable funding and more trained independent advocates will be needed to make any new right meaningful. It recognises the complexity of the existing legislative landscape and the importance of ensuring that any LDAN Bill provisions add coherence rather than further fragmentation.
SIAA shares these concerns. We have been arguing for some time that infrastructure must precede expanded rights – funding for the independent advocacy sector must be in place before new rights come into force, not after. The Scottish Government’s proposals suggest that implementation could be progressed through national strategy, local delivery plans, and statutory guidance covering funding models, standards, and data collection. This could be a workable approach, but the detail will matter enormously. Guidance without resourcing, and plans without accountability, will not be enough.
The costs and benefits paper is candid that it is currently difficult to estimate the cost of providing a broad right to independent advocacy. SIAA would note that this uncertainty cuts both ways, it should not be used as a reason to delay action or underinvest. It is also worth being clear about what the analysis does not yet fully capture: the significant downstream savings that come from early, preventative independent advocacy support, and in particular from collective and citizen models. When people are supported before situations escalate – when they feel connected, heard, and able to navigate services – the costs to health, social care, housing, and justice systems are reduced substantially.
Looking Ahead
These proposals are published at a particular moment: in advance of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, they do not commit any future government to specific policy positions. Whether this Bill is progressed, and in what form, will depend on the government formed after that election.
What the proposals do represent, however, is the product of significant collaborative work, including the contributions of people with lived experience through the Lived Experience Advisory Panel. That work should not be lost. It has produced something worth building on. The task now is to ensure that any future government carries that direction through into law, and crucially, into practice.
The full proposals document, “Working Together Towards a Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill: March 2026 Current Proposals for Potential Bill Provisions” is available on the Scottish Government website in a number of different formats.
For more information about SIAA’s work on the LDAN Bill, contact us at enquiry@siaa.org.uk
Transparency note: this article was written by SIAA staff and then edited both by using Claude AI and by the SIAA staff team.
