ICESCR concluding observations 2025, paragraph 41
Plain English recommendation
Government should:
(a) Review how welfare changes made since 2010 have affected the most vulnerable groups and to address these negative impacts. This includes undoing policies like the two-child limit, the benefit cap and the five-week wait for the first Universal Credit payment;
(b) Increase spending on social security and ensure benefits, including unemployment benefits and the daily allowance for asylum-seekers, are regularly updated based on the cost of living, using an independent and transparent system. These changes should give benefit claimants and adequate standard of living;
(c) Carry out an independent review of the rules for qualifying for social security. The review should look into temporary cuts to or suspension of benefits and the use of a digital-only automated system used to apply for benefits. Ensure these rules are fair, follow proper procedures and don’t make it more difficult for people to apply for or keep their benefits;
(d) Make sure disability benefits, like Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), properly cover the extra costs disabled people have because of their condition or impairment. This should follow the human rights model of disability and consider the recommendations from the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
(e) Follow UN advice about the right to social security and use the Committee’s statement on basic social security amounts (social protection floors) as a key part of the right to social security and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Consider the recommendations made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
Original UN recommendation
The Committee urges the State Party, along with the devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales:
(a) To assess the impact of the welfare reforms introduced since 2010 on the most disadvantaged groups and to take corrective measures, including reversing such policies as the two-child limit, the benefit cap and the five-week delay for the first Universal Credit payment;
(b) To increase its budget allocation for social security and ensure that social benefits, including unemployment benefits and the daily allowance for asylum-seekers, are regularly indexed to the cost of living through an independent and transparent mechanism to provide recipients with an adequate standard of living;
(c) To conduct an independent review of the eligibility criteria for social security, including the temporary reduction and suspension of benefits, and the reliance on a digital-only, automated approach to ensure that those measures are reasonable, comply with due process and do not create barriers to the uptake and maintenance of benefits;
(d) To ensure that disability-related benefits, including the Personal Independence Payment and the Employment and Support Allowance, adequately cover additional disability-related costs, in line with the human rights model of disability, taking into account the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
(e) To be guided by the Committee’s general comment No. 19 (2007) on the right to social security and refer to its statement on social protection floors as an essential element of the right to social security and of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
Date of UN examination
12/03/2025
Original UN document
Download the original ICESCR concluding observations 2025 on the UN website.
Last updated on 21/08/2025