In 2016, the United Nations published 11 recommendations for the UK government to improve the lives of disabled people.
Now, seven years later, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published a report stating there has been limited or no progress in most of the areas, leaving disabled people at higher risk of poverty, abuse and poor health.
The EHRC says the UK government has made commitments to addressing some of these areas, but this action has often been delayed or has failed to go far enough.
The EHCR is now calling on the government to make various reforms, as they say continued inaction is a ‘danger’ to the lives of people with disabilities.
These reforms include:
The EHRC are particularly concerned about the ongoing impact of the cost of living crisis, which disabled people have been disproportionately affected by.
Indeed, in 2022, over half of disabled people struggled to pay their energy bills. People with disabilities are also more likely to use food banks and face long wait times between applying for and receiving benefits.
The learning disability charity Hft says the report highlights that people with learning disabilities are being “repeatedly failed by the government.”
They are now urging the government to act on the recommendations laid out in the report and “sustainably invest in social care in the long term and plug the funding gap.
In 2016, the UN laid out 11 recommendations for the government to improve the rights and lives of disabled people. Here, we summarise each of the recommendations and whether the government has acted on them or not.
In 2016, the UN recommended that the government conducts a cumulative impact assessment of the measures adopted since 2010. This includes the rights to independent living and to be included in the community, to social protection and to employment of persons with disabilities.
Has progress been made?
The EHRC found there has been no progress towards implementing this recommendation, and the UK government has not conducted a cumulative impact assessment of its tax and security reforms since 2010.
The Committee says that the current cost of living crisis has underscored the need for greater awareness and consideration of the cumulative impact of welfare reforms and urges the government to conduct an assessment without delay.
The UN also recommended that the government ensures any intended measure of the welfare reform is rights-based, upholds the human rights model of disability and does not disproportionately and/or adversely affect the rights of people with disabilities to independent living, to an adequate standard of living and to employment.
To do this, they should ensure their cumulative impact assessments are rights-based and cover the whole range of intended measures that would have an impact on the rights of people with disabilities.
Has progress been made?
The EHRC says limited progress has been made towards implementing this recommendation. During the Covid pandemic, some temporary changes were made which supported disabled people’s standard of living. However, these measures have since been withdrawn (apart from in Northern Ireland, where some mitigations have been extended).
The Committee says that across the UK, the impacts on the mental and physical health of disabled people and on standard of living and poverty, suggest that the welfare system does not align with the human rights model of disability outlined in the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
In addition, the UK government has not undertaken consultation with disabled people across the UK and their organisations in relation to its welfare programmes. While Scotland has introduced some rights-based protections, the Committee says this has not led to material improvement in disabled people’s rights.
The UN also recommended that any intended legislation and/or policy measure respects the core elements of disabled people’s rights, and that people with disabilities:
Has progress been made?
The EHRC found that some progress has been made towards implementing these recommendations. For example, the employment gap across the UK between disabled people and non-disabled people is narrowing.
However, the Committee says further legislation and policy changes are required to ensure that rights of disabled people are upheld and protected, particularly in light of the disproportionate challenges that disabled people experienced during the pandemic and during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, as well as the rise in inappropriate treatment and detention in social care settings.
The UN recommended that public budgets account for the rights of people with disabilities, and that sufficient budget allocations are available to cover the extra costs associated with living with a disability, and the costs incurred by those affected by austerity measures.
Has progress been made?
There has been some progress towards implementing this recommendation, but according to the EHRC, additional help with the cost of living crisis remains insufficient and many disabled people are relying on food banks as a result.
The Committee says that in Northern Ireland, the budget allocated by the UK government has led to the proposal of wide-ranging cuts by Northern Ireland departments which will impact adversely on disabled people. Furthermore, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has resulted in the reduction of some funding for community services which supported disabled people, among other groups.
The UN recommended that the government makes necessary adjustments so that all information, communications, administrative and legal procedures (in relation to social security entitlements), independent living schemes and employment/unemployment-related support services are fully accessible to everyone with a disability.
Has progress been made?
The EHRC says that some progress has been made in implementing this recommendation, but more work will need to be done as we continue to accelerate towards digital service.
The Committee says that information, communications, administrative and legal procedures should be based on robust evidence of the needs and impacts of digital services for disabled people, and a review of the system for assessing the eligibility of social security benefits to disabled people should not be completed.
The UN recommended that the UK government ensures access to justice by providing appropriate legal advice and support, including through reasonable and procedural accommodation for people with disabilities who are seeking redress and reparation for the alleged violation of their rights.
Has progress been made?
The EHRC says no progress has been made towards implementing this recommendation, and that across the UK, very few people who apply for legal aid in discrimination cases obtain it, including disabled people.
The Committee says that many disabled people continue to experience unequal access to justice, and this is partly caused by the lack of legal aid to challenge decisions related to the welfare system and the inadequate support available for navigating social care decisions.
The UN recommended that the UK government actively consults and engages with people with disabilities through their representative organisations and give due consideration to their views in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of any legislation, policy or programme on human rights.
Has progress been made?
There has been some progress towards implementing this recommendation, and the EHRC says there has been improved consultation in Scotland and Wales. However, engagement between governments and disabled people requires improvement in some other areas of the UK, considering in particular the High Court judgement regarding the UK government’s National Disability Strategy.
The publication of this strategy was criticised by disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) and other stakeholders, and a 2022 High Court judgment found that the strategy was unlawful due to failures to properly consult disabled people. This ruling has since been overturned by the Court of Appeal.
This judgement highlights that while progress to actively consult with disabled people has been made, some DPOs feel the government needs to do more to ensure disabled people’s views are heard.
In 2016, the UN instructed the government to take appropriate action to combat any negative and discriminatory stereotypes or prejudice against people with disabilities in public and the media. This includes challenging the assertion that dependency on benefits is in itself a disincentive to seeking employment.
To do this, the UN said the government should implement broad mass media campaigns, in consultation with organisations representing persons with disabilities, particularly those affected by the welfare reform, to promote them as full rights holders, in accordance with the Convention.
In addition, the UN said the government should adopt measures to address complaints of harassment and hate crime by people with disabilities, promptly investigate those allegations, hold the perpetrators accountable and provide fair and appropriate compensation to victims.
Has progress been made?
The EHRC says little progress has been made in implementing this recommendation. While the UK government announced a package of funding designed to tackle bullying in school (particularly to reduce the bullying of children with SEND), the Committee says more needs to be done to tackle negative stereotypes or prejudice against disabled people in the public and media, as well as to tackle disability-related hate crime.
Indeed, research published in 2018 showed that prejudiced views against disabled people have continued to grow in England and Wales since 2000. While the Crime Survey for England and Wales indicates that hate crimes motivated by disability have decreased from 2007/08 to 2019/20, the UK Government has not implemented the Law Commission’s 2021 recommendation that hate crime legislation should be updated to ensure that victims of disability hate crime receive the same level of protection as other groups, and the EHRC recommends the government act on this without delay.
The UN recommended the UK government ensures that, in the implementation of legislation, policies and programmes, special attention is paid to persons with disabilities living on a low income or in poverty and to people with disabilities who are at higher risk of exclusion. This includes people with intellectual, psychosocial or multiple disabilities and women, children and older persons with disabilities
Has progress been made?
The EHRC says there has been limited progress in implementing this recommendation and there continues to be a disproportionate number of disabled people living on a low income or in poverty. The Committee says disabled people also experience long waiting periods for benefits eligibility decisions and are more likely to use resources such as food banks.
Across the UK, there is a lack of comprehensive, disaggregated equality data to facilitate the monitoring of the impact of policy and programmes on disabled persons to ensure that targeted actions can be taken, and the Committee recommends that all data is aggregated by households with a disabled person.
In 2016, The UN recommended that the government set up a mechanism and a system of human rights-based indicators to permanently monitor the impact of the different policies and programmes which give disabled people the right to:
Has progress been made?
The EHRC says there has been no progress towards implementing this recommendation. In fact, the UK government has failed to establish a mechanism within the government to monitor its own human rights obligations and the impact of policies and programmes on human rights, including on the rights of disabled people.
The UK government maintains that the EHRC is adequate for monitoring human rights and equality issues in Great Britain, and that the Office for National Statistics is sufficient for the publication of statistics on disability.
However, the EHRC has called for the UK Government to increase its powers, enabling it to support human rights cases relating to disability, including arranging legal advice to help disabled people seek redress for breaches of their human rights.
Finally, in 2016, the UN recommended that the government responds within the time limit prescribed under the Optional Protocol. In addition, the UN said the government should widely disseminate the Committee’s findings and recommendations, and provide appropriate follow-up to the recommendations of the present report, including during the consideration of the State party’s initial report before the Committee.
Has progress been made?
While the EHRC has praised the government for responding to the Committee’s recommendations, there has been only some progress in implementing the recommendations.
Furthermore, the Committee says the government failed to widely disseminate the findings and recommendations from 2016. Similarly, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, there has been no standalone work to promote the findings of the 2016 inquiry has been undertaken.
Individual UKIM members have proposed supplementary recommendations for consideration by the Committee, in respect of the devolved context and their organisational remits.
These recommendations include various reforms, including addressing problems with the welfare system, engaging with disabled people and their organisations and improving public services for disabled people.
Disability charities are now urging the government to act on the recommendations set out in the report, and Sarah White, Head of Policy at national disability charity Sense, says the findings shed light on the “huge challenged disabled people across the UK face, from poverty to prejudicial attitudes.”
“One issue that comes through loud and clear is the lack of social care available to help disabled people to live their lives, with the report saying the situation is so bad that it amounts to ‘acute violations of disabled people’s human rights’. Our recent research shows 1 in 5 (21%) people with complex disabilities who receive support from social care don’t have the right care and support to meet their needs.
“With this new report from the EHRC, our own research and the work of our colleagues at other disability charities, the evidence is stacking up. The government cannot ignore the facts; we need action now to improve the lives of disabled people,” she said.
