The UK High Court has ruled that the imposition of a benefit cap on full time carers breaches the rights of disabled people under Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The UK government’s policy of a “benefit cap” limits the social welfare benefits which may be claimed by working-age unemployed people to £500 per week. In applying this cap to carers who work full time with adult relatives, the Court held that it created serious financial hardship for them and forced many to give up caring for relatives. This in turn amounted to unlawful discrimination against seriously disabled people, prohibited under Article 14 ECHR.
The Court also drew attention to the fact that refusing to class full time care, constituting at least 35 hours per week, was offensive and fails to take note of its “difficult and burdensome” nature. Full time care could properly be regarded as work, despite carers being in receipt of benefits, and therefore should be exempt from the cap. In being subjected to the benefit cap, many carers were forced to give up or cut back on their caring duties. This unlawfully discriminated against seriously disabled people as they could no longer receive care from a trusted relation. The Court noted the “huge contribution to society” made by the work of unpaid carers, in terms of the services they provided to disabled relations and the public savings made to the NHS and other public services.
The ruling follows a previous decision of the UK Supreme Court in March of this year which ruled that although the benefit cap is legal, the effects of the policy amounted to a breach of the UK’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Click here to read the High Court judgment in full.
Click here to read a previous Bulletin article on the Supreme Court ruling which held that the cap is lawful, yet breaches the UK’s obligations under the CRC.