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Scores of deaths of claimants in the last three years have been linked to persistent, systemic flaws in the way benefits are managed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), an official document has shown. The DWP document, released to Disability […]
The government abandoned proposals for an independent review of its much-criticised sanctions policy, the latest example of how a minister watered down plans to prevent suicides and learn lessons from the deaths of benefit claimants. The decision to further limit the effectiveness […]
A second inquiry in two months has issued a call for wholesale reform of the social care system without delivering a clear and urgent demand for an end to care charges. Reimagining Care was commissioned by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, […]
Disabled activists and allies will hold a silent vigil outside the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday to mark the latest stage in the fight for a second inquest into the death of Jodey Whiting. Joy Dove, Jodey’s mother, has been fighting […]
Disabled people’s organisations and allies have written to the prime minister to call for an immediate ban on energy companies forcibly installing pre-payment meters in the homes of disabled customers who have fallen into debt. The Disability Poverty Campaign Group (DPCG) says […]
Disabled campaigners are calling on the government to halt its reform of the Mental Health Act until there is a public inquiry into the “appalling failings, abuse and high levels of deaths” in mental health services across England. They say that no […]
Parents with learning difficulties in England are more than 50 times more likely to have their child taken into care than other parents, an investigation has found. Channel 5 News worked closely with the disabled women’s organisation WinVisible and fellow campaign group […]
The UK and Scottish governments have been warned of a humanitarian crisis among disabled people this winter if they fail to take “robust, immediate action” to deal with “devastating and intensifying” levels of disability poverty in Scotland. The warning was issued by […]
Activists who have used direct action to draw attention to attacks on disabled people’s rights say plans to give the police yet more new powers to shut down demonstrations show the government is weak and “running scared”. The powers would allow police […]
Activists say the legal system has failed disabled people again, after a court found ministers acted lawfully during the pandemic when they refused to offer people on legacy benefits the same £20-a-week increase given to those on universal credit. Three Court of […]
A report by a cross-party committee of MPs and peers on the government’s plans for mental health reform has been described as “seriously flawed and discriminatory” by a user-led organisation. Disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) told the committee last year that the government’s […]
The number of disabled people who have had deductions taken from their benefits because of financial hardship has rocketed in the last year, new government figures have shown. The figures show a 29 per cent rise in the number of homes where […]
Contractors likely to be bidding for new five-year contracts to test eligibility for disability benefits are still producing a “shockingly high” number of sub-standard assessment reports, nine years after they first won contracts to carry them out. An audit of assessment reports […]
The local authority that has been seen for decades as the most inclusive in England has been accused of delivering a “segregated insult” to disabled people, after backing plans for a new special school for autistic pupils in the borough. The Alliance […]
A disabled man has been left without the care and support he needs for more than six months because his council is refusing to accept that the cannabis-based medicine he has to pay for privately is a legitimate disability-related expense. Chris Walker […]
The civil servant who leads the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has misled MPs about its failure to implement a plan drawn up to prevent suicides and learn lessons from the deaths of benefit claimants. Peter Schofield, DWP’s permanent secretary, was […]
The disabled people’s organisation leading the fight for inclusive education in the UK is building a new coalition of allies and supporters to end segregation and push for mainstream education for all disabled people. The Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE) is working […]
Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary has attacked the “totally unacceptable” number of disabled people who return to work after being found not fit for work by the government’s assessment system. In a major policy speech, Jonathan Ashworth (pictured) said that only […]
The most senior civil servant in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been told that the continuing failure to sign a legal agreement that would force his department to improve its treatment of disabled claimants is “totally unacceptable”. It is […]
The minister for disabled people and the work and pensions secretary have both failed to sign up to their department’s discredited disability employment scheme, Disability Confident. The latest update to Disability Confident membership shows that neither Tom Pursglove nor Mel Stride have […]
Disabled people forced into employment in the “gig economy” have to carry out significant levels of unpaid work to cope with the disability-related oppression and exploitation they face, new research has found. Austerity measures, uncertain working conditions, distrust and suspicion from employers […]