UN Experts say the UK government’s proposed welfare reforms breech international laws

Experts from the UN’s committee on the rights of Disabled persons (CRDP) have continued to urge the government to scrap upcoming changes in disability benefits, which they say risk breaching the UK’s human rights obligations. The experts have told the UK government that their proposed reforms to disability benefits are “discriminatory and unjustified”. 

The letter written by the UN Human Rights’ special rapporteurs on disability rights Heba Hagrass, and extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, raise several serious concerns over Labour’s welfare plans. They say that instead of achieving the government's stated aim of supporting people with disabilities into work, financial considerations and negative perceptions of benefit claimants are driving the reforms.

In July this year Prime Minister Kier Starmer was forced into a partial U-turn due to pressure form members of parliament and disability campaigners over plans to cut welfare spending on personal independence payment (PIP) , but despite this key changes to universal credit are still set to take effect from next April. This means the health-related element of the benefit (UC health) will be nearly halved for new claimants and the amount will be frozen for four years. This will effectively produce a two tier health benefit system, where the amounts awarded are significantly lower purely because of the date on the application. Introducing lower entitlement based on when a person qualifies for UC health “appears discriminatory and unjustified”, the experts say, going against the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Alongside this, the UN-appointed advisers say they are “dismayed” that senior government officials and politicians “used language that stigmatises benefits claimants and suggests that claimants are scroungers who are abusing and cheating the system”. This rhetoric is repeated time and time again despite the fact that the official DWP statistics, which show “near non-existent” overpayments for (PIP) and universal credit extra elements arising from fraud. The UN experts say that they are gravely concerned that such language normalises and encourages a hostile and stigmatising environment for persons with disabilities, in which they are considered ‘fakers’ and a drain on society,” they add.

Due to these concerns, the experts say the welfare reforms should be withdrawn, until comprehensive assessments are carried out in full consultation with disabled people and disability groups. This includes the Timms Review. This review was launched in June this year after pressure from backbench MPs and campaigners in response the the government's proposed changes to PIP, making it harder for applicants to quality. While Mr Timms has stated the purpose of the review is not to propose cuts, many think this is exactly what it will recommend.

Work and Pensions Committee chair Debbie Abrahams MP also expressed concerns this week over the Timms Review, specifically that the recommendations from the review could “restrict access to or reduce the generosity of PIP”, despite his commitment. She has asked Stephen Timms for clarification.

Sources: The Independent, Disability Rights