• One of the two disabled artistic directors of this summer’s Paralympic Games opening ceremony has spoken of the need to produce an “exquisite” demonstration of the talents of disabled artists and performers.
• The first tantalising details of what promises to be a stunning Paralympic Games opening ceremony have been revealed by its two disabled artistic directors.
• Tens of thousands of disabled people have lost all of their out-of-work disability benefits this week, thanks to new rules brought in by the government through its controversial Welfare Reform Act.
• One of Britain’s leading Paralympians has led fierce criticism of the Sun newspaper for running front-page headlines that mocked the speech difficulty of the new England football manager, Roy Hodgson.
• The UN disability convention is breathing new life into grassroots disabled people’s organisations across the world, leading Commonwealth figures have heard.
• Disabled bloggers have posted their views about topics as diverse as sex, special education, assistive technology and the barriers facing disabled farmers, as part of the seventh annual Blogging Against Disablism Day.
• Disabled activists who want to give evidence about newspapers that have stirred up hostility towards claimants of disability benefits appear to have been sidelined by the Leveson inquiry into press standards.
• The government has refused to say what advice it has received from local councils and the Department of Health (DH) about the wider impact of its sweeping cuts to spending on disability living allowance (DLA).
• A pioneering self-advocacy organisation this week celebrated the publication of a booklet that charts its 21-year history.
• A new exhibition of photographs is showcasing the power of sport to inspire both disabled and non-disabled children, and highlighting the achievements of a key London 2012 international programme.

‘Longcare Survivors is a testament to the dedication and tenacity of the author – journalist John Pring – who has spent 17 years investigating the case. It also stands as a testament to the courage and forbearance of the survivors themselves, whose voices feature prominently in this brilliant book.

‘Their abuser, Gordon Rowe, a former mental health nurse turned charismatic conman, was able to establish three residential care homes, where for years he was able to rape, beat and sadistically humiliate countless people with learning disabilities with impunity.

‘As with the recent Winterbourne View case (a residential ‘care’ home in Bristol) the abuse only came to light thanks to the actions of a whistleblower. In the case of Longcare an anonymous person leaked a report by Buckinghamshire County Council to the Slough Observer.

‘One of the most inspiring and important aspects of this book is the way the author challenges the perception of people with learning disabilities as passive victims. He reminds us that “in many and varied ways, they resisted [Gordon Rowe's] cruelty, they found ways to survive”.

Nevertheless, the effects of abuse can be long-lasting and, as Jim Mansell wrote in The Guardian in the wake of Winterbourne View, for people with learning disabilities “there is no quick fix”. For many of the Longcare survivors, the memories and effects of abuse remain raw, present and close to the surface.

‘But we can at least take some comfort from Dorothy Thomson, the true heroine of this story. “As soon as you get in an institution, you learn to hate and you have a dream to hold onto and my dream was that one day I would have a flat of my own and I would never marry a body-abled man. That dream has come true, because that is the main thing you have to hang onto to get through these traumas.”‘

To order a copy of the book, go to this page of the site.

• Concerns have been raised about how members of the public are being chosen to take part in the Paralympic torch relay – a major event in the lead-up to this summer’s London 2012 games.
• New figures show the number of disabled people granted funds to make their workplaces more accessible has fallen sharply again.
• A leading disabled people’s organisation has called on the disability movement to rally behind Remploy workers and fight the government’s planned closures of at least 36 factories, and the loss of more than 1,500 disabled people’s jobs.
• Black and minority ethnic disabled people face a “disaster”, with deteriorating health, increased poverty, and lower life expectancy, if nothing is done to deal with their unmet needs, according to a leading disabled activist.
• New figures show the proportion of disabled people found eligible for unconditional support under the much-criticised “fitness for work” regime is continuing to rise.
• The minister for disabled people has defended plans that will see huge private sector companies fighting over contracts to carry out the new medical assessments that will determine disabled people’s eligibility for vital benefits.
• The Department for Work and Pensions has been unable to produce any evidence to show that it has analysed the knock-on effects of its huge cuts to spending on disability living allowance.
• A thalidomide survivor has been released from prison in the Philippines after serving nearly 20 years, thanks to a campaign led by a disabled activist and fellow survivor.
• Four young people have spent four days travelling more than 800 miles around Wales on public transport, to raise awareness of the barriers they and other disabled people face.
• Tributes have been paid across the disability movement to Lord [Jack] Ashley, the UK’s first deaf MP and a hugely committed campaigner for disability rights for more than 40 years, who died on Friday (20 April).

• The knock-on effects of the government’s huge cuts to spending on disability living allowance could wipe out every penny of the savings it is hoping for, according to a new report.
• Sports governing bodies must do much more to encourage disabled people to play sport regularly, according to the cabinet minister responsible for the London 2012 Paralympics.
• Disabled activists have again brought traffic chaos to central London by chaining their wheelchairs across busy pedestrian crossings in protest at government cuts and welfare reforms.
• Four disabled activists have resigned from the board of the UK’s leading disabled people’s organisation following a disagreement over its future direction.
• Leading price comparison websites are ignoring their legal obligations to make their sites accessible to disabled people, according to a new report.
• A disability charity is calling on the banking industry to do more to make its services accessible to blind and partially-sighted people.
• Coalition MPs have overturned changes to government legislation that would have made it easier for many disabled people to apply for legal aid.

• A new consultation on disability living allowance reform has added fuel to concerns that the government is ignoring the likely impact of the changes on disabled people’s lives, say campaigners.
• The government has been heavily criticised for its decision not to accept the part of the UN disability convention that protects disabled immigrants.
• The head of the equality watchdog, Trevor Phillips, is to leave his post after six years, it has been confirmed.
• User-led groups across London are hoping to convince local authorities to continue funding two vital areas of support for disabled people and their organisations.
• The mother of a teenager with autism who was repeatedly confined to a padded room at his residential special school has spoken of the “remarkable” progress he has made since a court ruled his treatment was unlawful.
• New guidance could see older people, children, obese people and pregnant women receive protection under European laws on air travel for disabled people, a leading user-led organisation has warned.
• The MP leading a review of Labour’s special educational needs policy has suggested it will recommend a far more inclusive approach than the coalition government’s anti-inclusion stance.
• Two disabled MPs have spoken out strongly against any moves towards legalising assisted suicide.
• Two new high-profile campaigns are set to highlight the barriers that disabled people face when trying to use public transport.
• Disabled activists have hailed as a major victory a decision by Scottish GPs to call on the government to abandon its controversial “fitness for work” tests.
• Tackling the bureaucratic barriers faced by disabled people, a list of the top disability-friendly employers, and recruiting more disabled teachers, are just some of the suggestions for how the government can improve disabled people’s lives.

• Campaigners have warned that this week’s budget has produced a new and worrying attack on disabled people’s rights and support.
• A measure announced in this week’s budget could lead to a further increase in disability hate crime, campaigners have warned.
• A disabled peer has dedicated a ground-breaking parliamentary report on independent living to a young man who has been prevented from leaving hospital for more than six months by “bureaucratic failure” and a lack of support.
• Campaigners are to protest outside the company which conducts “fitness for work” assessments of disabled people for the government, but has leased inaccessible buildings to carry them out.
• Closing many of the remaining Remploy factories is set to lead to direct action, national protests and even the occupation of the factories by disabled workers, a meeting of campaigners and union activists has heard.
• London’s mayor has been criticised for failing to turn up for an event that provided an opportunity for disabled people to question candidates for May’s mayoral election.
• The three leading candidates seeking to replace Boris Johnson as mayor of London have laid out policies on accessible transport, disability hate crime and affordable housing in a bid to attract the votes of disabled Londoners.
• Staff working for London’s mayor have refused to accept a manifesto of demands for improvements to public transport that was delivered to his offices by disabled campaigners.
• Disabled people were this week seeking a “vital” appeal court ruling that could have a huge impact on discrimination in the benefits system, and ensure that government spending decisions are subject to human rights laws.
• A decision by Heathrow Airport to trial a new wheelchair repair service in time for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics has been welcomed by young disabled campaigners.

• Disabled activists have reacted with astonishment after the government claimed in a new action plan that its sweeping welfare reforms and cuts to disability benefits would help in the fight against disability hate crime.
• Fresh concerns have been raised about the government’s work capability tests after new figures showed a huge increase in the number of disabled claimants of incapacity benefit being reassessed as “fit for work”.
• Concerns have been raised about the Metropolitan police’s reluctance to seek advice from its disabled advisers, following a high court case which led to a teenager with autism winning nearly £30,000 in damages.
• London’s mayor could be breaching his Equality Act duties by refusing to trial an accessible version of his cycle hire scheme, it has been claimed.
• A user-led advice service that has lost its council funding fears similar cuts could have serious financial consequences for disabled people in other parts of the country.
• The government has refused to say whether it will withdraw funding for sheltered businesses across the country, following last week’s decision to force the closure of at least two-thirds of the remaining 54 Remploy factories.
• A disabled MP has backed the government’s decision to withdraw funding from the remaining sheltered factories run by Remploy.
• Disabled activists have again been forced to warn of the “catastrophic” consequences of a weakening in the laws on euthanasia and assisted suicide, after the latest “right to die” high court ruling.
• A disabled peer has spearheaded the latest defeat of the government over its plans to reform the legal aid system and cut £350 million from its budget.

• Disabled people’s organisations have backed government plans to withdraw funding from the remaining sheltered, segregated factories run by Remploy, but have called for as many of them as possible to emerge as new user-led social enterprises.
• The government has announced that 36 of the remaining Remploy sheltered factories are to close by the end of 2012, with the loss of hundreds of disabled people’s jobs.
• The government has promised to increase funding and support for the Access to Work programme, which it says will help thousands more disabled people into mainstream jobs.
• The Office for Disability Issues has angered disabled activists after stating that its own disability advisers do not have to notify civil servants if they work for the company set to make millions from incapacity benefit reform.
• The government has been heavily defeated in the House of Lords over plans to remove legal aid for benefits appeals.
• Britain’s best-known Paralympian has suggested that more should be done to “educate” the country’s elite disabled athletes about some of the real-life challenges facing other disabled people.
• The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics are a “massive opportunity” to improve permanently the accessibility of the capital, according to Britain’s greatest Paralympian.
• Disabled people have explained why they travelled from across England to take part in a mass lobby of parliament calling for fundamental reform of the social care system.
• Local authorities, health bodies and police forces are frequently breaching the human rights of disabled people, according to a new report by the equality watchdog.
• The body that runs the House of Commons has pledged to improve access for disabled visitors to parliament.
• A project that adapts traditional English folk dances for wheelchair-users has been recognised by organisers of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Disability Rights UK (DR UK) spoke out after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) quietly published the latest consultation document on its plans to replace working-age DLA with a new personal independence payment (PIP).

The document lays out plans for some of the detailed rules on PIP.

Among the proposals is a key change to the rules governing payment of DLA to people on the Motability car scheme who are admitted to hospital.

Currently, DLA payments stop after a disabled person has spent 28 days as an in-patient, but claimants who use their DLA mobility component to pay for a Motability vehicle can continue to receive those payments until the end of their lease.

But these payments are also now set to stop after 28 days, meaning PIP claimants who spend more than a month in hospital are likely to lose their Motability vehicles.

It is not yet clear exactly when this change will be brought in, as the document says only that the change will be rolled out “from 2013 alongside the implementation of PIP”.

Neil Coyle, director of policy and campaigns for DR UK, said the government appeared to have ignored the potential costs of the suggested new rule.

It could mean disabled people not being able to drive home from hospital or finding it impossible to travel to work, while the government could face extra hospital costs from delayed discharges.

The consultation document also says that PIP will often be awarded for short fixed-term periods of just one or two years, although longer term awards of five or 10 years “may be more appropriate” in other cases.

Coyle said he expected fewer people to qualify for the new PIP than even the government had predicted, leading to more “wasteful and stressful” assessments and appeals, and a huge backlog in the PIP system.

He warned that the move to PIP could see a “never-ending” revolving door for many disabled people from PIP assessment to appeal to another assessment, as has happened with the much-criticised employment and support allowance, the new out-of-work disability benefit.

He said he feared many disabled people would simply “feel it is not worth the effort” to claim PIP.

The new document says that the levels at which PIP will be paid will not be announced until the chancellor makes his autumn statement later this year.

DWP will start to phase in PIP for new claimants from April 2013, and begin to reassess existing DLA claimants from Oct 2013.

29 March 2012