New insurance rules that effectively ban foreign personal assistants (PAs) from driving Motability vehicles are likely to breach the Equality Act, it has been claimed. The new rules, introduced in January, mean foreign drivers without a UK licence can only be […]
News Archive
Minister promises to probe council demanding thousands for school support
The children’s minister has promised to investigate a local authority that is demanding thousands of pounds from mainstream schools towards the cost of pupils with high support needs. The mother of one of the disabled children affected by the new policy […]
Deaf activists mark 10 years since BSL recognition with call for fresh action
Deaf activists have used the tenth anniversary of the official recognition of British Sign Language (BSL) to call for it to be given the same legal status as Welsh. They want to see a named minister responsible for driving forward a […]
New equality tool will help with parliamentary staff’s ‘misguided assumptions’
A new online resource for the House of Commons should teach MPs and their staff how to improve their interaction with disabled constituents. Experts who developed the e-learning disability equality tool – which is also available to Commons staff – had […]
Should the Government Subsidise Mobility Aids for Those in Official Work Schemes?
Posted by The Mobility Superstore: www.themobilitysuperstore.co.uk It seems that the coalition’s attempts to cut the country’s massive debt levels are hitting some problems, and disabled people are right at the heart of this failure. The two government schemes designed to get […]
Government’s ‘secret plan to strip claimants of DLA’
The government appears to have a secret plan to reassess disability living allowance (DLA) claimants who have “indefinite” awards, in a bid to sidestep delays to implementation of its benefit reforms. Three disabled people, who all work or volunteer as welfare […]
Number 10 denies Cameron misled MPs on DLA spending
The prime minister has been caught out for the second time giving MPs misleading information about cuts to disability benefits. David Cameron had been asked last week about the impact on disabled people of the so-called “bedroom tax” – new regulations […]
IDS drops housing benefit appeal but claims: ‘This is no climb-down’
The government has withdrawn an appeal to the Supreme Court that – if successful – would have meant that families could no longer claim enough housing benefit to pay for separate bedrooms for disabled children with high support needs. The decision […]
McVey refuses to apologise after ‘misleading’ MPs on ‘bedroom tax’
The minister for disabled people has refused to apologise for misleading MPs about the impact on disabled people of the controversial “bedroom tax”. Esther McVey’s comments follow similarly misleading statements on the same subject last week by the prime minister David […]
ILF judicial review: ‘I’ll choose Dignitas over residential care’
A disabled woman has warned that the government’s decision to scrap the Independent Living Fund (ILF) will force her and others to seek an assisted suicide in Switzerland, rather than face an alternative of residential care. The warning came as five […]