A/HRC/41/39/Add.1 emergency admissions to hospitals of homeless people (“of no fixed abode”) increased sevenfold between 2008–2009 and 2017–2018.9 5. In the past, the worst casualties of these “reforms” would have received at least minimal protection from the broader social safety net. But austerity policies have deliberately gutted local authorities and thereby effectively eliminated many social services, reduced policing services to skeletal proportions, closed libraries in record numbers, shrunk community and youth centres, and sold off public spaces and buildings including parks and recreation centres. It is hardly surprising that civil society has reported unheard-of levels of loneliness and isolation, prompting the Government to appoint a Minister for Suicide Prevention. The bottom line is that much of the glue that has held British society together since the Second World War has been deliberately removed and replaced with a harsh and uncaring ethos. 6. There have been some positive developments as well. The 2018 budget introduced several changes to the Government’s flagship benefits programme, Universal Credit (UC), including a welcome increase in work allowances, as a consequence of which an estimated 2.4 million households will be better off in 2019,10 and some 200,000 people will rise out of poverty.11 And the introduction of a minimum wage has helped reduce low pay. 12 7. But these developments have not stemmed the overall direction of the tide. The country’s most respected charities, its leading think tanks, its parliamentary committees, independent authorities like the National Audit Office and many others have all drawn attention to the dramatic decline in the fortunes of the least well off. The Special Rapporteur met with people who depend on food banks and charities for their next meal, who are sleeping on friends’ couches because they are homeless, who have sold sex for money or shelter; children who are growing up in poverty unsure of their future; young people who feel gangs are the only way out of destitution; and persons with disabilities who are being told they need to go back to work – against their doctor’s orders – or lose support. He met many for whom a single crisis, such as an unexpected health condition, a divorce or a disability, led to disaster. 8. The Special Rapporteur also witnessed tremendous resilience, strength and generosity, and heard stories of deeply compassionate work coaches, local officials and volunteers; neighbours supporting one another; councils seeking creative solutions; and charities stepping in to fill holes in government services. People across the United Kingdom made it clear that they want to work, and are taking hard, low-paying and insecure jobs in order to put food on the table. They want to contribute to their society and communities, support their families, live in safe, affordable housing and take control over their lives. 9. In the face of these problems, the Government has remained determinedly in a state of denial. While local authorities throughout England and Wales are outsourcing or abandoning services, and devolved authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland are frantically trying to “mitigate” or counteract the worst features of the Government’s policies, ministers insist that all is well and running according to plan. Despite some reluctant policy tweaks, there has been a deeply ingrained resistance to change. The good news is that many of the problems could readily be solved if the Government were to listen to people experiencing poverty, the voluntary sector and local authorities, acknowledge their grievances and implement the recommendations below. 10. Most of the political debate around social well-being in the United Kingdom has focused only on the Government’s explicit goals. They include a focus on employment, a quest for greater efficiency and cost savings, a determination to simplify an excessively complicated benefits system, a desire to increase the uptake of benefits by those entitled to 9 10 11 12 4 See www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/20/nhs-england-figures-show-soaring-homeless-patientnumbers. HM Treasury, Budget 2018, para. 5.32. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, “Could the Government have done more to enable people to escape poverty?”, 1 November 2018. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, UK Poverty 2018, p. 6.