the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues
A parliamentary debate, studies and surveys have this week exposed yet again the impact of the recession and the government’s austerity programme on disabled people. Concerns about food banks, a drop in the number of those receiving council-funded care and support, […]
Only one supermarket website provides even the most basic level of accessibility necessary for disabled shoppers looking to buy their Christmas essentials online, according to tests of leading food retailers by a disability charity. Accessibility experts from AbilityNet found that the […]
Disabled people’s organisations could find themselves “gagged” when they try to speak out on disability rights in the run-up to elections, if new laws are approved by parliament, a leading disabled peer has warned. Baroness [Jane] Campbell has written to disabled […]
The new minister for disabled people has caused confusion after he appeared to suggest that Atos Healthcare would be withdrawing from delivering the government’s “fitness for work” tests in less than two years’ time. Giving evidence to the work and pensions […]
The government’s own independent reviewer warned ministers that the controversial “fitness for work” test was not ready to be rolled out to hundreds of thousands of people on long-term incapacity benefit (IB), Disability News Service (DNS) can reveal. Professor Malcolm Harrington, […]
Disability charities appear to be losing patience with efforts to reform the much-criticised “fitness for work” test, as the government’s new independent reviewer delivered his first report. The review by Dr Paul Litchfield, chief medical officer for BT Group, was the […]
The final three Remploy sheltered factories have today (Friday) been sold, saving the jobs of nearly 180 disabled people, but marking the end of 67 years of manufacturing. The factories in Coventry, Derby and Birmingham – which provide services to UK […]
There is still a substantial gap between the number of disability hate crimes committed and how many are reported to police, although many public bodies are “making progress” with their response to disability-related harassment, according to a new report. The Equality […]
At least one of the private sector companies delivering the government’s new disability assessment has already been financially punished for falling below the required standards, just months after the programme was launched. Members of the work and pensions select committee were […]
Campaigners have finally secured a meeting with an education minister, after occupying Department for Education (DfE) offices in protest at the government’s “attack” on inclusive education. About 20 protesters from the Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE) and Disabled People Against Cuts […]