Experts from the UN have urged the government to scrap upcoming changes to disability benefits, which they say risk breaching the UK’s human rights obligations.
In the damning letter, 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.
The experts say that instead of achieving the stated aim of supporting people with disabilities into work, “fiscal considerations and negative perceptions of benefit claimants appear to be the driving rationale” behind the reforms.
Ministers were forced into an embarrassing partial U-turn over plans to cut welfare spending in July, but key changes to universal credit are still set to take effect from next April.
These will see the health-related element of the benefit (UC health) slashed nearly in half for new claimants – from £423.26 to £217.26 a month – and also freeze the amount for four years, meaning it will not increase with inflation.
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), which was ratified by the UK in 2009.
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 abusing and cheating the system”.
They point to official Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) statistics, which show “near non-existent” overpayments for the personal independence payment (PIP) and universal credit extra elements arising from fraud.
“We 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.
Further reforms to the welfare system are “expected” in autumn this year, they add, pointing to reports that eligibility for UC health could be tightened, its health assessment could be replaced with the PIP assessment, and access to the benefit could be restricted to those aged 22 and over.
Due to these concerns, the experts say the welfare reforms should be withdrawn, at least until comprehensive assessments – in full consultation with disabled people – are carried out on current and future plans.
The intervention comes as Work and Pensions Committee chair Debbie Abrahams MP urged disability minister Stephen Timms to provide more details over his PIP review, which is set to conclude in autumn 2026.
The Timms Review was launched after the government removed changes to the disability benefit from its welfare plans under pressure from backbench MPs and campaigners.
While Mr Timms has stated the purpose of the review is not to make savings for the government, Ms Abrahams writes that she is “concerned” that the recommendations from the review could “restrict access to or reduce the generosity of PIP”, despite his commitment.
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 £3.8bn 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.”
