E/C.12/GBR/CO/6 domiciled under its jurisdiction acting abroad, fully respect economic, social and cultural rights. (art. 2 (1)). 12. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Establish a clear regulatory framework for companies operating in the State party to ensure that their activities do not negatively affect the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural human rights; (b) Adopt appropriate legislative and administrative measures to ensure the legal liability of companies domiciled under the State party’s jurisdiction for violations of economic, social and cultural rights in their projects abroad committed directly by these companies or resulting from the activities of their subsidiaries; (c) Conduct thorough risk assessments prior to granting licences for arms exports and refuse or suspend such licences when there is a risk that arms could be used to violate human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights. 13. The Committee draws the attention of the State party to its statement on the obligations of States parties regarding the corporate sector and economic, social and cultural rights (E/2012/22-E/C.12/2011/3, annex VI, sect. A). International development cooperation 14. While welcoming the achievement by the State party of the international target of allocating 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance in the framework of international cooperation, the Committee is concerned that in some cases the assistance provided has reportedly been used for activities in contravention of economic, social and cultural rights in the receiving countries. The Committee is particularly concerned about the financial support provided by the State party to private actors for lowcost and private education projects in developing countries, which may have contributed to undermining the quality of free public education and created segregation and discrimination among pupils and students (arts. 2, 13 and 14). 15. The Committee calls upon the State party to adopt a human rights-based approach in its international development cooperation by: (a) Undertaking a systematic and independent human rights impact assessment prior to decision-making on development cooperation projects; (b) Establishing an effective monitoring mechanism to regularly assess the human rights impact of its policies and projects in the receiving countries and to take remedial measures when required; (c) Ensuring that there is an accessible complaint mechanism for violations of economic, social and cultural rights in the receiving countries embedded in the framework for development cooperation projects. Tax policies 16. The Committee is concerned about the adverse impact that recent changes to the fiscal policy in the State party, such as the increase in the threshold for the payment of inheritance tax and the increase of the value added tax, as well as the gradual reduction of the tax on corporate incomes, are having on the ability of the State party to address persistent social inequality and to collect sufficient resources to achieve the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights for the benefit of disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups. While noting the efforts that the State party and, notably, its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are undertaking to tackle tax avoidance and cross-border tax abuse, the Committee is concerned that financial secrecy legislation and 3