The government could be set for major climb-downs over two of its most controversial cuts to benefits claimed by disabled people. As the government launched its new welfare reform bill, work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith confirmed that plans … Continue reading →

Disability organisations have greeted the government’s new welfare reform bill with a mixture of caution and outright hostility. The bill will see disability living allowance (DLA) replaced by a new personal independence payment (PIP), with a new assessment to test … Continue reading →

The government hopes a new strategy will help more disabled people become local councillors and MPs. The £1 million-a-year package of six proposals includes a new Access to Elected Office Fund to help would-be disabled politicians meet the extra disability-related … Continue reading →

Disabled people have finally secured “important rights” to travel on buses and coaches across the European Union (EU), following two years of negotiations. The new EU regulation will guarantee non-discriminatory access to transport and a right to accessible information before … Continue reading →

Disabled consumers are being overcharged for mobility aids, and many are buying low-quality products and equipment that fails to meet their needs, campaigners have told the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The OFT said that disabled people, consumer groups, charities … Continue reading →

Millions of people working or volunteering with “vulnerable adults” and children will no longer need to have their criminal records checked, under new government proposals. The government said it wanted to “scale back” the Labour government’s plans for the vetting … Continue reading →

Leisure, public transport, tourism and university bosses are to be brought in front of a new group of MPs and “held to account” for their failure to make services accessible to young disabled people. Paul Maynard, chair of the new … Continue reading →

An influential committee of MPs has heard direct evidence from disabled people about their fears over the government’s disability benefit reforms. Dame Anne Begg, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons work and pensions committee, had asked disabled people to … Continue reading →

An inquiry by MPs and peers will investigate how the coalition government’s regime of spending cuts is affecting disabled people’s right to independent living. The decision by the joint committee on human rights – whose members include the disabled peer … Continue reading →

Inclusive education campaigners have welcomed a court’s ruling that the government failed to take account of the impact on disabled pupils and other minority groups when it scrapped a string of school building projects. Education secretary Michael Gove has been … Continue reading →