For the Many Group Magazine. | Page 21

UK in breach of international human rights obligations due to their Austerity policies • Increases in the inheritance tax limit and value added tax, and reductions to corporation tax. • The national minimum wage, “is not sufficient to ensure a decent standard of living in the State party, particularly in London, and does not apply for workers under the age of 25”. • Sanctions in relation to benefit fraud and the absence of due process. • The increased risk of poverty for many people. • The persistent critical situation in terms of availability, affordability and accessibility of adequate housing including social housing. • Reforms to the legal aid system and The inquiry concluded that changes the resulting restriction of access to to housing benefits and criteria for justice, in areas including employment, parts of the Personal Independence housing, education and social welfare Payment, along with a narrowing of social care criteria and the closure of benefits. • The significant rise in homelessness the Independent Living Fund, all and the country-wide reliance on "hindered disabled people's right to live independently and be included in foodbanks. • The lack of adequate resources the community". provided to mental health services. • Persistent serious shortcomings in the Here are just a few highlights... care and treatment of older persons, including those with dementia. • The high incidence of part-time work • The announced plan of replacing the and the use of zero hour contracts, Human Rights Act of 1998 by a new precarious self-employment and British Bill of Rights. temporary jobs. • Lack of corporate regulation. • The new Trade Union Act (2016), which limits the right of workers to undertake industrial action. In a report carried out by the UN, they claimed they were “seriously concerned” by the state of inequality in the UK. Changes to benefits "disproportionately affected" disabled people, the UN Committee on the Rights of Disabled Persons (CRPD) found. The UK was the first investigated under a UN convention it has been signed up to since 2007. They also looked at a range of recent welfare reforms and legislation including the Welfare Reform Act 2012, Care Act 2014, and Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. - 21 -