September 13, 2013
Usually the United Nations hits UK headlines in an oblique manner, yet this week the initial report by UN rapporteur Raquel Rolnik has changed all that.
Usually the United Nations hits UK headlines in an oblique manner – Security Council decisions (or the lack of them) or corralling efforts to respond to natural disasters. Yet this week the initial report by UN rapporteur Raquel Rolnik has changed all that.
Her criticisms of the UK welfare reforms for their detrimental impact on the quality of housing available to poor and vulnerable people are deeply embarrassing for the government. In the week of one of the first successful appeals against the bedroom tax (page 5) and £20 million more funding from the Scottish Government to help people affected by the under-occupation penalty, campaigners and some social landlords have taken heart that Ms Rolnik’s call for a national rethink on welfare reform may be answered.
If the shooting-from-the-hip response of Conservative Party chair and former housing minister Grant Shapps is anything to go by, this sadly seems unlikely.
Mr Shapps has been more intent on rubbishing the approach of that ‘woman from Brazil’ rather than engaging in the substance of the points Ms Rolnik makes. It would be a great shame if her eagerness to share her initial conclusions undermines them. So what should social landlords take from this very undiplomatic row?
Ms Rolnik’s warning that, in pursuing cuts to welfare support for housing, the UK may be in breach of the UN Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is certainly eye-catching. Yet lawyers we have spoken to say this will have little bearing on legal challenges to the bedroom tax or other welfare measures because, unlike the European Convention on Human Rights, this convention is not enforceable in UK courts.
What should give housing professionals and policy-makers greater pause for thought is the observation that the UK has, hitherto, been an ‘inspiration’ to other countries in its efforts to provide a secure housing safety net for its citizens. The fact that welfare reforms are seen as ‘retrogressive’ by Ms Rolnik and ‘deserve further scrutiny from a human rights perspective’ is sobering. This may yet result in a volte face, but, until then, social landlords must continue to pursue their own strategies to mitigate the effects of welfare reforms – or move to Scotland.
Source: Inside Housing
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