A report by the European Committee of Social Rights has found that the UK does not conform to Article 12 of the European Social Charter in respect of benefits and pension levels.
The UK has been a signatory to the Charter since 1962. The Committee’s role is to ensure all signatories conform to the Charter. In its latest report, covering 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2011, the Committee found that the UK conformed to all the Articles of the Charter except for Article 12 – the Right to Social Security, where it found that the situation in UK does not conform to the Charter on the ground that:
- the minimum levels of short-term and long-term incapacity benefit is manifestly inadequate;
- the minimum level of state pension is manifestly inadequate;
- the minimum level of job seeker’s allowance is manifestly inadequate.
The Committee wants the next report to indicate how the new UK welfare and pension reforms have affected the personal coverage of social security risks – i.e. the percentage of the covered persons out of the total active population as well as the minimum levels of income-replacement benefits (unemployment, sickness, maternity and old-age).
The next report should also consider whether “the obligations and sanctions under the work-related activity regime are of such a nature as not to unduly limit the protection afforded by Part III of the Code to sick persons after the 13th week of sickness”.
You can download the report at http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/Conclusions/State/UKXX2_en.pdf
There is also a Guardian news story at http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/29/uk-benefits-inadequate-council-of-europe