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You are here: Home / Archives for Catherine Hale

Catherine Hale

DWP figures ‘show self-employed disabled people have been put to the back of the Access to Work queue’

By John Pring on 14th May 2026 Category: Employment

DWP figures ‘show self-employed disabled people have been put to the back of the Access to Work queue’
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Self-employed disabled people are waiting nearly two years for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to even begin working on their Access to Work application if they are seen as a “non-priority” case, new figures have confirmed. The figures, obtained […]

Report makes ‘compelling case’ for work flexibility

By John Pring on 9th November 2023 Category: Employment

Report makes ‘compelling case’ for work flexibility
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New research has made “a compelling case” that providing flexible working can enable employers to increase their recruitment and retention of disabled people with energy-limiting health conditions. The Making Employment Work for People with Long-Term Conditions report, due to be published […]

Chronic illness community faces culture of disbelief and rigid jobs policies, says report

By John Pring on 29th April 2021 Category: Employment

Chronic illness community faces culture of disbelief and rigid jobs policies, says report
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Millions of people with energy-limiting chronic illness (ELCI) are being failed by both employers and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), according to a new user-led report. The study found that the flaws within the disability benefits system create a […]

Disabled activists call for a refreshed social model to ‘bring it back to life’

By John Pring on 9th July 2020 Category: Activism and Campaigning

Disabled activists call for a refreshed social model to ‘bring it back to life’
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Disabled activists have called for a re-examination of the social model of disability to produce a “reinvigorated” version that will bring together disabled, Deaf and autistic people to challenge the oppression they face. The call came at an online meeting hosted […]

‘People with chronic illness face hostility and isolation’, says pioneering report

By John Pring on 30th April 2020 Category: Activism and Campaigning

‘People with chronic illness face hostility and isolation’, says pioneering report
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People with chronic illness face hostility and isolation because of society’s failure to understand how their impairment affects their lives, according to the results of a ground-breaking piece of user-led research. The research concluded that the most “fundamental oppression” experienced by […]

Ideas to replace WCA with new assessment framework win some support

By John Pring on 13th December 2018 Category: Activism and Campaigning

Ideas to replace WCA with new assessment framework win some support
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Disabled activists have delivered a generally positive response to fresh ideas on how to replace the hated fitness for work test with a new assessment framework that would restore “dignity and respect” to those unable to work full-time. The ideas were […]

Project offers new bridge between chronic illness community and disability movement

By John Pring on 5th July 2018 Category: Activism and Campaigning

Project offers new bridge between chronic illness community and disability movement
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A disabled researcher has suggested a way to bring the hundreds of thousands of people with chronic illness under the umbrella of the disabled people’s movement. Catherine Hale (pictured), who has lived with a diagnosis of ME for nearly 30 years, […]

Benefit sanctions regime discriminates against disabled claimants, new research shows

By John Pring on 22nd February 2018 Category: Benefits and Poverty

Benefit sanctions regime discriminates against disabled claimants, new research shows
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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing claims that it has been running a discriminatory benefit sanctions regime, following the publication of new research. Academic Ben Baumberg Geiger has found that more than 900,000 disabled claimants of the mainstream […]

ESA figures show ‘very disturbing’ drop in number placed in support group

By John Pring on 15th September 2016 Category: Benefits and Poverty

ESA figures show ‘very disturbing’ drop in number placed in support group
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“Very disturbing” new government figures show a steep fall in the proportion of disabled people being found eligible for out-of-work disability benefits. Disabled campaigners fear the figures show the government is cutting spending on disability benefits “below the radar”, after being […]

IDS announces ‘fitness for work’ U-turn that was five years in the making

By John Pring on 28th August 2015 Category: Benefits and Poverty

IDS announces ‘fitness for work’ U-turn that was five years in the making
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Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith appears set to scrap the “fitness for work” test championed by successive Labour, coalition and Conservative governments, but there are fears that its replacement could prove even more damaging to disabled people. Duncan Smith […]

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Image of front cover of The Department, showing a crinkled memo with the words 'Restricted - Policy. The Department. How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence. John Pring.' Next to the image is a red box with the following words in white: 'A very interesting book... a very important contribution to this whole debate' - Sir Stephen Timms, minister for social security and disability. plutobooks.com and the Pluto Press logo.

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