Angry campaigners are calling on the government to reverse its decision to bar visually-impaired people over 65 from claiming a new higher rate of a disability benefit. >From April, about 22, 000 people with severe visual impairments will for the first […]
News Archive
Police pilots ‘must not blur boundaries with hate crime’
Police forces trialling a new approach to anti-social behaviour should not be tempted to downgrade potential disability hate crimes says a leading disabled activist. The government has launched pilot projects across eight forces, aimed at changing the way the police respond […]
EU ratification of UN convention is ‘major landmark’
Disabled campaigners say the European Union’s (EU) ratification of the UN disability convention will provide a huge boost to the lives of 80 million disabled people across its 27 member states. Two days before Christmas, the EU became the first regional […]
Conference will address ‘unacceptable’ housing conditions
Many disabled people in Scotland are living in “completely unacceptable” housing conditions, according to a new report. The report’s findings are set to be discussed at a “ground-breaking” conference on the housing problems faced by disabled people, to be held on […]
Controversial work test ‘is too strict’, say doctors
Health professionals who are using a controversial new test to assess disabled people for out-of-work disability benefits believe the threshold for claiming the payments has been raised too high, according to new government-funded research. Doctors and other healthcare professionals said the […]
Petition calls on government to think again on mobility component
Disability charities have launched a petition calling on the government to scrap plans to remove a vital benefit from disabled people in residential care. Members of the Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC) believe that removing the mobility component of disability living allowance […]
Evictions and homelessness ‘inevitable’ for disabled people
Evictions and increased levels of homelessness among disabled people are an “inevitable” result of the government’s housing benefit reforms, MPs have been told. In a report on the likely impact of the reforms, the Commons work and pensions committee – which […]
Access statements could be scrapped, suggests government
The government has said it could scrap the legal duty for builders to provide written access statements, sparking concerns among leading access experts. Access statements lay out how developers and designers have addressed access issues when working on new or refurbished […]
Charities set out plans to co-operate on services
Three leading national charities for blind and visually-impaired people are discussing how they could “combine forces” to improve the services they provide and offer a “more unified voice”. The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), Action for Blind People (ABP) […]
Autism strategy has ‘serious flaws’
The new national strategy for adults with autism is proving to be “seriously flawed” and “dreadfully disappointing”, according to autistic rights campaigners. The Autistic Rights Movement United Kingdom (ARM UK) spoke out as the government published new statutory guidance for local […]