‘Dismay’ at ‘discriminatory’ actions of DWP ministers, in third letter from UN experts to UK in just two months

UN human rights experts have told the UK government they are “dismayed” at the actions of its ministers and what appear to be “discriminatory and unjustified” reforms to disability benefits.

It is the third letter from UN human rights experts in just two months to raise serious concerns about Labour’s attacks on disabled people’s rights.

The UN’s committee on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) is already examining concerns about the government’s new universal credit cuts act and its mental health legislation and potential breaches of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

This followed letters the UN wrote to the UK government expressing concerns about the two pieces of legislation, following evidence submitted by grassroots disabled people’s organisations.

But this week, the special rapporteurs on the rights of persons with disabilities and on extreme poverty and human rights have added their concerns, writing a joint letter to the government that adds even fiercer criticism of measures to cut disability benefits.

In the letter, sent just days before the sacking of work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall and her replacement by Pat McFadden (see separate story), Heba Hagrass and Olivier De Schutter say they are “deeply concerned” at measures in the new Universal Credit Act which signal “further retrogression in the availability and accessibility of social security for those at heightened risk of poverty”.

They say in the letter: “On its face, the new two-tier system for the UC health element whereby new claimants will receive a significantly lower amount of the same benefit solely because of the date of their application appears discriminatory and unjustified.”

And they criticise the introduction of the government’s “problematic” severe conditions category, which is “not aligned with the concept of disability under the [UNCRPD]” and “penalizes people who are at particular risk of poverty while experiencing significant barriers to employment”.

They also say they are “gravely concerned” and “dismayed” that politicians and “senior governmental officials” have used language that “stigmatizes benefits claimants and suggests that claimants are abusing and cheating the system” when official statistics show “near nonexistent overpayments” due to fraud.

And they point to the “lack of meaningful consultations” on the act, and the previous cuts to personal independence payment which were part of the legislation before ministers were forced to back down in the face of backbench opposition.

They say in their letter that they fear the cuts “may have put fiscal considerations” ahead of the government’s international human rights duties and could have a “disproportionate impact” on disabled people’s rights, particularly the right to a decent standard of living and the right to be “closely consulted and involved in policymaking”.

As well as UNCRPD, they also point to the UK’s duties under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

And they point out that both CRPD and the UN’s committee on economic, social and cultural rights have already warned that these rights have been eroded by previous governments over the last decade.

They also say that the “rationale” for the cuts seems to be based on looking at rising numbers of claimants, rather than carrying out a “comprehensive analysis and response to the causes behind the increased prevalence of disability and long-term health conditions” and the challenges disabled people face.

Ministers have now been asked to explain their decisions – and further reforms to disability benefits and employment expected in a white paper this autumn – and how they comply with UNCRPD and ICESCR, and to say what steps they are taking to guarantee disabled people’s rights.

The government said it would respond to the letter from the two rapporteurs in due course, and that it was committed to implementing UNCRPD and helping disabled people fulfil their potential.

A government spokesperson said: “We’re changing the welfare system so sick or disabled people have the opportunities to move into good, secure work and out of poverty as part of our Plan for Change.

“Our reforms will rebalance the rates of universal credit to reduce the perverse incentives that trap people out of work, while giving people the genuine support they need through our £3.8 billion employment support package.

“The views of disabled people remain at the heart of our decision making, including through the consultation earlier this year and the Timms Review, which will be co-produced with disabled people and their organisations.”

Sir Stephen Timms, the minister for social security and disability, who is leading the review, said this week, in response to a written parliamentary question: “I have been engaging over the summer to consider the process for the work of the review and consider how it can best be co-produced to ensure that expertise from a range of different perspectives is drawn upon.

“I will share more details on this and how disabled people and other stakeholders will be involved in the review as plans progress.”

Picture: The UN headquarters in Geneva, by UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

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