Housing is the cornerstone of independent living, yet many disabled people live in homes that do not meet their requirements.
This is according to the May 2018 report on housing and disabled people in England, Wales and Scotland by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
In Theresa May’s first speech as Prime Minster, she proclaimed her Government’s mission was to tackle ‘burning injustices’ in Britain. But preparing for Brexit has dominated Government thinking since then.
This is according to the May 2018 report on ‘burning injustices’ in Britain (pdf), by Bright Blue and Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
‘Foodbanks have seen a 30% increase in food parcels given in areas of Universal Credit roll-out.’ This is according to the April 2018 report (pdf) by
The Commons Library have published an April 2018 briefing on the progress of the ‘Secure Tenancies (Victims of Domestic Abuse) Bill 2017-19’ as it completes committee stage.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission have released a series of infographics to illustrate key findings from their March 2018 report on the impact of tax and welfare reforms.
The Government Equalities Office have published its 8th report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (pdf), in April 2018.
‘Undocumented migrants find themselves criminalised for doing what they must to survive.’
This is according to the April 2018 guidance (pdf) from Liberty on defending migrants’ rights and tackling the hostile environment
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have published their business plan 2018/19 (PDF), in March 2018.
This plan outlines the priorities for their work in the coming year.
The profiles of homeless people are changing, with children becoming the largest group of people in emergency shelters as a result of a deterioration in the living conditions of extremely vulnerable families.
This from the March 2018 annual report (PDF) from the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA)
This report reveals how millions of Europeans face housing exclusion on a daily basis as well as a dramatic picture of increasing homelessness across most of the EU – in particular amongst children, women and migrants.
The report finds:
In France, 20,845 people called the 115 homeless helpline requesting accommodation (in June 2017)
Dublin City Council spent € 39 million on hotel nights for homeless people in 2016, while € 10.7 million was spent on prevention and supported housing
In Britain, 29% of spending was on temporary accommodation and (44% of which was spent on hotels/Bed and Breakfast) and 61% on housing services (between 2015-2016)
Over the last number of years, only two European countries (Finland and Norway) have seen a reduction in the number of homeless people
Read the full report (PDF).
‘The impact of changes to direct taxes and benefits is to reduce the income of
Bangladeshi households by around £4,400 per year on average’.
Four months after releasing their 2017 interim report, the Equality and Human Rights Commission have published their final cumulative impact assessment (pdf), in March 2018.
The report exposes how much individuals and households are expected to gain or lose, and how many adults and children will fall below an adequate standard of living, as a result of recent changes to taxes and social security.
The report finds:
Negative impacts are particularly large for households with more disabled members, and individuals with more severe disabilities, as well as for lone parents on low incomes
For some family types, these losses represent over 13% of average net income
At an individual level, women lose on average considerably more from changes to direct taxes and benefits than men
Lone parents in the bottom fifth of the household income distribution lose around 25% of their net income, on average
Around 1.5 million more children are forecast to be living in households below the relative poverty line as a result of the reforms.
EDF and a number of our members have contributed to the development of this important research.
Read the full report (pdf).
