Disability News Service

Campaigners have called for an inquiry into the deaths of parents driven to despair by the refusal of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to correct errors in child support demands. They believe DWP figures show that the death rates of […]

Accessible transport campaigners have called on the government to sign up to 10 “basic equality standards” that would improve the accessibility of the rail network for millions of disabled passengers. They say their 10-point plan will restore accessibility to the heart of […]

Hundreds of disabled people and allies have called on the prime minister to take “urgent” action to fix the crisis-ridden and “broken” Access to Work disability employment scheme. In a new open letter, Access to Work Collective says disabled people who rely […]

Disabled campaigners betrayed by a solicitor who took many high-profile cases of disability discrimination have spoken of the significant harm he caused, after he was finally struck off by a tribunal. For years, Chris Fry (pictured), from Sheffield, took on discrimination cases […]

A local authority that failed to listen to disabled people who wanted to stay out of residential care has become the first in England to be rated as “inadequate” over its adult social care responsibilities. A report by the Care Quality Commission […]

Disabled people who rely on social care are still struggling to pay their personal assistants (PAs), more than a month after a catastrophic technology failure. The failure struck on 13 July and hit people who use direct payments to arrange council-funded care, […]

Retail giant Marks and Spencer has agreed to pay compensation and make changes to at least one of its stores after installing chilled food cabinets with inaccessible doors that prevented a disabled campaigner from accessing any of the contents. Flick Williams (pictured) […]

A Conservative peer was commissioned to examine how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) dealt with reports of claimant suicides linked to DWP, even though she was a director of a company closely connected to one of those deaths. Baroness [Lucy] […]

A secret report written by a Conservative peer called for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to reduce the number of suicides of benefit claimants and other “very bad cases” linked to the department’s actions. The Complaints, Suicides and Other Matters […]

Comments by the disability minister have fuelled concerns that the government is planning changes that will cut the amount of workplace support disabled people can receive through the Access to Work scheme. There have been months of concerns about the future of […]

The choices made by the UK state on how the social care system is structured mean that the impact of the pandemic in this area should be “ground zero” for the Covid inquiry’s investigations, disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) have argued. Four DPOs […]

Disabled campaigners have welcomed the government’s announcement that it will review the laws around powered wheelchairs and mobility scooters, and examine how new mobility technology could be “safely implemented” for disabled people to use. They believe that better regulations on mobility aids […]

A “landmark” decision has forced a regulator to examine whether credit companies should be allowed to take disability benefits into account when calculating if disabled people can take out risky loans at high interest rates. The decision (see complaint 202500121) means that […]

A disabled bus passenger and campaigner has been left in a “state of constant fear” after he was shown “dehumanising” and “violent” messages exchanged between drivers that made fun of his weight and even called for him to be shot. Arriva Midlands […]

A UN committee has raised serious concerns that the UK government’s mental health bill is breaching the international disability rights convention, with the legislation set to complete its passage through parliament when MPs return from their summer holidays. The bill – based […]

Network Rail is being questioned again over its failure to provide funding to ensure the accessibility of new infrastructure, after it claimed it could not afford to ensure a new footbridge would be accessible to people with mobility impairments. The bridge will […]

Disabled campaigners have demanded that the Labour government finally breaks its silence and takes action to end the accessible housing crisis. A year ago, Inclusion London – backed by campaign allies – took their demand for the new Labour government to act […]

A new cross-party report from MPs has raised significant concerns about the impact of the government’s disability benefit cuts and reforms on the poverty and safety of disabled claimants. The Labour-dominated Commons work and pensions committee calls in the report for ministers […]

Disabled people have undergone a “huge rollback” in their rights and social security support since the pandemic, a disability rights campaigner and adviser has told the Covid inquiry. Despite politicians promising they would be “building back better”, Joanne Sansome told the inquiry […]

Ministers have published research they have been sitting on for more than a year showing how the proportion of disabled people in financial difficulty doubled in two years, days after MPs voted for £2 billion-a-year cuts to out-of-work disability benefits. The report […]