John Pring

Employment

A white car parked in the centre of two parking bays

June 21, 2018 0

‘Discrimination’ by DWP’s IT company ‘exposed disabled employee to months of abuse’

A “Disability Confident” company owned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) subjected a disabled member of staff to repeated abuse from strangers after it refused for more than 15 months to make a simple alteration to his parking arrangements. It is now more than 15 months since wheelchair-user Jamie Shield reported to

Benefits and Poverty

A protester in a crime scene outfit crouches by a sign saying universal credit is a crime

June 21, 2018 0

DWP is failing ‘vulnerable’ claimants of universal credit, says watchdog

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is failing to support “vulnerable” claimants and is unable to monitor how they are being treated under its new universal credit benefit system, according to an investigation by the public spending watchdog. The report by the National Audit Office (NAO) raises a string of serious concerns about

Benefits and Poverty

Front entrance of Maximus offices in London

June 21, 2018 0

‘Fit for work’ assessor suspended for describing examination that did not take place

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An occupational therapist who carried out a “misleading” benefit assessment has been suspended for a year after regulators found she reported carrying out a physical examination of a disabled man that did not take place. Paru Vekaria has shown no remorse over the incident, in which she stated in a written report for government

Independent Living

Sue Bott giving evidence to a parliamentary committee

June 21, 2018 0

Government’s social care funding failure ‘is terrible news for disabled people’

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Disabled campaigners have reacted with alarm to the government’s decision that it will not address the social care funding crisis until the end of next year, despite announcing billions of pounds a year extra for the NHS. Despite saying in a speech that ministers “know we need to improve social care”, prime minister Theresa

Benefits and Poverty

Jenny Morris sitting at a table in a conference

June 21, 2018 0

PIP announcement ‘shows replacing DLA was waste of time and money’

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The government’s decision to stop regular benefit reassessments for some people with “the most severe, lifelong conditions” shows that replacing disability living allowance (DLA) with personal independence payment (PIP) was a waste of time and money, it has been claimed. Sarah Newton, the minister for disabled people, confirmed this week that claimants with such

Activism and Campaigning

June 21, 2018 0

Ground-breaking co-production report ‘creates blueprint for national change’

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A “ground-breaking” report on co-production has created a blueprint for disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) across the country to push for change from their own local authorities. Disabled campaigners yesterday called for the report of the Hammersmith and Fulham Disabled People’s Commission to be shared with other local authorities and DPOs. Speaking at its launch

Human Rights

Sarah Newton speaking in the House of Commons

June 21, 2018 0

Minister for disabled people caught misleading MPs on cuts to support… again

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The minister for disabled people has been caught misleading MPs – again – as she tried to defend her government’s repeated breaches of the UN disability convention. It was the second time in five months that Sarah Newton (pictured) has misled MPs in a House of Commons debate about the support provided to disabled

Transport

June 14, 2018 0

Motability calls police about disabled woman who failed to return car

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A disabled woman who refused to return her Motability car after she lost her eligibility for disability benefits was threatened with arrest by police officers after the company reported the vehicle as stolen. Mary Jenkins* was approached by two police officers in the middle of a supermarket carpark on the Isle of Wight on

Benefits and Poverty

June 14, 2018 0

Atos assessor told gay man he was ‘defective’ and needed to be cured by God

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A doctor working for the government contractor Atos told a gay disabled man she was assessing for his entitlement to disability benefits that his sexuality meant he was “defective” and that God needed to fix him like a “broken” car. Atos was forced to pay Keith Morgan compensation after he was subjected to an

Independent Living

June 14, 2018 0

Young woman evicted from care home while critically ill in hospital

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A young disabled woman was told that she had been evicted from her residential home while she lay critically ill in hospital. The care home in Barking, east London, run by the company Sahara Care, had originally issued the eviction notice to Lakhvinder Kaur (pictured) in a letter on 6 April, just days after

Author John Pring