16 September 2021

The Equality and Human Rights Commission says the government has made no progress on improving the way its social security system protects the rights of disabled people, and that the disability benefits assessment system has led to “the deaths of a number of benefit claimants”.

What: The Equality and Human Rights Commission concludes that the UK government has made no progress on improving the way its social security system protects the rights of disabled people and other groups. In its assessment of progress across 11 human rights areas, the commission concludes that several permanent welfare reforms introduced by the government have “adversely affected the enjoyment of human rights, in particular for women, disabled people, ethnic minority people and lone parents”, highlights how the process of assessing entitlement to disability benefits has been found to disadvantage disabled people, and highlights concerns that methods used in the disability benefits assessment system have led to “the deaths of a number of benefit claimants”, pointing to the conclusions of the coroner who heard the inquest into the death of Philippa Day, who warned in February that further such deaths could occur if DWP and its contractor Capita failed to act.

Why significant: The UK’s human rights watchdog highlighting concerns about the link between DWP and the deaths of claimants and the ongoing failure to improve protection of disabled claimants.