Poverty and human rights

In November 2018, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, will visit the UK. As part of this visit, a visit to Scotland is expected. To prepare for his visit the Special Rapporteur has invited written submissions on issues related to poverty and human rights. In particular, the Special Rapporteur has expressed an interest in: austerity; universal credit; new technologies in the welfare system; child poverty; and Brexit, More details are available here: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Poverty/Pages/CallforinputUK.aspx

Colleagues from across the third sector and from the SDGs network are invited to share their concerns here. This page will form the basis of the SCVO submission to the UN Special Rapporteur. Please note that SCVO will conclude our submission on Tuesday the 11th of September. This submission will include a reference to this page.

Poverty in Scotland
Poverty and inequality are not inevitable. Despite this, in 2014/17 19%, or almost one million Scots lived in poverty after housing costs and 58% of working-age adults in relative poverty before housing costs were living in working households. These individuals and families face very real challenges. They may battle with hunger or struggle to pay their bills or heat their homes. In the long term poverty will impact upon their health, their wellbeing and their life chances. SCVO and our members believe people have a right to a decent standard of living. Scotland can do better.

Universal Credit
In the UK, 980 thousand people claimed Universal Credit (UC) in June 2018, 37% of whom were in employment. In Scotland, Universal Credit will be introduced in full across the country by the end of 2018. It is projected that when full service rollout is complete in 2022, there will be 652,500 households in Scotland claiming Universal Credit. UC can and should protect people from the many harmful impacts of poverty. To achieve this SCVO and organisations across the third sector including, Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS), CPAG Scotland, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Oxfam Scotland, the Poverty Alliance, and others, stress that their is a need to listen to those claiming UC and redesign elements that simply aren't working.

Universal Credit, as currently designed, risks leaving people in Scotland without the support they need, pushing them into debt and crisis. This crisis must not be ignored.

Internet access
In 2016 the UN declared access to broadband to be a basic right. Without internet access in the home individuals have limited access to public services, channels for civic and democratic participation, knowledge and information tools, opportunities for social engagement, the labour market and learning opportunities. Despite this, many individuals and households cannot afford the devices and connections needed to benefit from the many advantages the internet offers.

Home internet access varies considerably by household income. In 2016, 63% of households in Scotland with an income of £15,000 or less had home internet access rising to 98% in households with incomes of £40,000 and over (Scottish Household Survey, 2016). Additionally, only 65% of social housing tenants have home internet access, compared to 88% of home owners or private rented tenants. Older people, those with disabilities, and those in social housing or on low incomes are all more likely to be digitally excluded.

There are strong economic benefits to being online. Increasingly the cheapest products and services are only available online. The internet is therefore an ‘enabling’ service that has the potential to reduce cost across a range of household spending, for example, by shopping online for cheaper deals or through price comparisons. Estimates suggest that a household on an average income can save £744 a year from having broadband in the home. Other evidence has suggested that those on the lowest incomes (who buy less overall) can also save around between £200 and £300 per year (Wheatley Group pilot project in 2014 and SQW Consulting report in 2008). These savings are not available to households without home internet access.

Similarly, telecommunications tariffs are increasingly structured around inclusive packages. As a result, individuals and families with basic packages pay more per unit of consumption (Consumer Futures 2013). More must be done to prevent this poverty premium.

More generally, finding the most cost effective broadband provision can be difficult. The Competition and Markets Authority recently published a report highlighting that online price comparison sites are poorest when comparing broadband when set against a range of other products and services.

New technology in the welfare system
Both the UK and the Scottish Government are increasingly moving services online. The Department for Work and Pensions, for example, plans for 80% of Universal Credit applications to be completed online by 2017 as part of a transition towards digital only services. The digitalisation of public services can simplify and integrate services. Similarly, internet in the home can offer faster, more convenient access to public services. However, the people who are most likely to be supported by public services are also those most likely to be digitally excluded. Online public services must be assessable to all, to date the varied needs of public services users has not be fully considered. The drive to digitalise public services must therefore be supported by initiatives to ensure that everyone can use and access digital services.

Internationally, the digital revolution is driving innovation, growth and competitiveness. Equal access to information and communication technology (ICT) is also essential to achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including, achieving quality education, creating decent work and economic growth, reducing inequalities and reducing poverty.

Digital inclusion is therefore key to tackling inequality and poverty, meeting the SDGs and fulfilling human rights.