Results and recommendations of the CRPD Committee’s examination of the UK 9 November 2017 Rachel Fox – Senior Associate, Treaty Monitoring 01

Outline Monitoring the treaty Recent developments: Inquiry Examination CRPD results and recommendations Outline Monitoring the treaty Recent developments: Inquiry Examination Results and recommendations What next? 04

CRPD results and recommendations Monitoring the treaty UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN Committee). Two key roles: Monitors the compliance of States Parties with the Convention through reviews every 4 - 5 years, and issues ‘Concluding Observations’. These include recommendations to the State Party to improve implementation of the treaty. Can receive complaints and undertake inquiries in countries that have ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention. Complaints can be made to the UN Committee under its communications procedure. Suggestions and recommendations made to the State Party. The UN Committee can undertake inquiries where reliable information is received about grave or systematic violations of the Convention. Recommendations made to the State Party. 04

CRPD results and recommendations Inquiry: 2014-2016 In 2014 the UN Committee launched an inquiry into the UK under Article 6 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, having received reliable evidence of violations of the Convention. The inquiry examined the cumulative impact of policy and law changes since 2010 on: Article 19: Right to live independently and be included in the community Article 27: Right to work and employment Article 28: Right to an adequate standard of living and social protection. In November 2016 the UN Committee published its report and recommendations to the UK Government. 04

Inquiry – findings and recommendations CRPD results and recommendations Inquiry – findings and recommendations The UN Committee’s inquiry report concluded that there was reliable evidence of grave or systematic violations of the rights of disabled people in the UK. The Committee made a number of recommendations to the UK Government, including: Conduct a cumulative impact assessment of measures adopted since 2010 Ensure reforms uphold the human rights-based model of disability and don’t disproportionately/adversely affect the rights of disabled people Ensure access to justice for disabled people Pay special attention to disabled people on low income/in poverty and at risk of exclusion Continue to monitor the impact of different measures on disabled people via a system of human rights-based indicators. The UK Government’s response to the inquiry, also published in November 2016, rejected the inquiry’s conclusions. 04

CRPD results and recommendations Examination: August 2017 The UK was examined by the UN Committee in Geneva on the 23 & 24 August. The examination is part of an ongoing cycle, which many organisations have worked to inform and influence. 04

Examination: in action CRPD results and recommendations Examination: in action The UN Committee questioned a UK delegation during a six hour session at the UN in Geneva over two days. Questions covered every aspect of the Convention – e.g. social security, education, health, participation, accessibility. Live-streamed and available online. Civil society organisations actively informed and influenced the examination – e.g. briefing the Committee, social media activity. National Human Rights Institutions and Equality Bodies also informed the process. 04

Examination: recommendations CRPD results and recommendations Examination: recommendations The UN Committee issued its ‘Concluding Observations’ at the end of August. The Concluding Observations set out the UN Committee’s key concerns about disabled people’s rights in the UK, and its recommendations to the UK Government for improving compliance with its obligations under the Convention. The UN Committee made over 80 recommendations to the UK Government across the full range of Convention rights. Many of these recommendations echoed those made by civil society organisations and the National Human Rights Institutions and equality bodies in the UK. The recommendations also repeated those made in the inquiry report in November 2016, and made them a priority for follow up by the UK Government. 12

Examination: example recommendations CRPD results and recommendations Examination: example recommendations “The Committee recommends that the State party… “Establish mechanisms to secure the full participation of organisations of persons with disabilities in the design and implementation of strategic policies aimed at implementing the Convention across the State Party, through objective, measurable, financed and monitored strategic action plans.” “Adopt all appropriate measures to eradicate the use of restraint for reasons related to disability within all settings…” “Allocate sufficient resources to ensure that support services are available, accessible, affordable, adaptable and are sensitive to different living conditions for all persons with disabilities in urban and rural areas.” “Develop a comprehensive and coordinated legislative and policy framework for inclusive education and a timeframe to ensure that mainstream schools foster real inclusion of children with disabilities…” The full range of recommendations cover many other issues, including recommendations about ensuring that the Convention is made a full part of the law in the UK, and detailed recommendations about health, social security, employment, an adequate standard of living, access to justice, among others. 12

CRPD results and recommendations What next? The UK’s next report to the UN Committee is due in July 2023, and an interim report on rights to work, independent living and living standards is due by September 2018. The power and potential of the UN Committee’s Concluding Observations depends on how we use them to push for change for disabled people in the UK. 12

Thank you Rachel.fox@equalityhumanrights.com CRPD review Thank you Rachel.fox@equalityhumanrights.com 13