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Conservative ministers prevented research that showed disabled people on out-of-work benefits were subject to high levels of stress, debt and isolation from being included in a controversial policy paper that called for cuts to spending on those benefits. The research had examined […]
Conservative ministers decided to hide a report that exposed the flaws of the “degrading” personal independence payment (PIP) system, just five days before they published proposals to replace PIP cash payments with vouchers or one-off grants, ministerial emails have revealed. Disability News […]
A disabled activist has won praise for a successful two-year plan that has exposed the “ridiculously-low” awards handed out by the Rail Ombudsman to disabled passengers. Doug Paulley’s efforts have led to the ombudsman issuing what appears to be its highest-ever compensation […]
Disabled experts who advised the Labour government on its ground-breaking Life Chances report – which was published 20 years ago on Sunday – say successive governments over the last 20 years have abandoned its ambitious goals. The 20th anniversary of the report […]
The care regulator has admitted to shocked MPs that many service-users, relatives and care staff who have reported safeguarding concerns about a care home or hospital may still be waiting for a response five months later. The Care Quality Commission’s outgoing chair […]
The government has agreed to cross-party talks on strengthening the law so that landlords would have to allow “reasonable” adaptations to the homes of disabled renters. Ministers had refused on Tuesday to back two separate attempts – by Green and Liberal Democrat […]
One of the founders of the UK’s independent living movement, John Evans, who was driven by a determination to ensure that disabled people could take control of their own lives, has died. Since he became disabled in an accident at the age […]
Disabled campaigners have reacted with despair and exasperation to the government’s “deeply disappointing” announcement that it is delaying long-term reform of the adult social care system in England. Instead of announcing immediate plans for long-term reform, health and social care secretary Wes […]
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff are making thousands of potentially fatal errors every month when dealing with the benefit claims of disabled people, information released by the department has shown. Two reports released by DWP under the Freedom of Information […]
The chief medical adviser for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing questions over why she dismissed the importance of hundreds of secret reviews carried out by her own department into the deaths of disabled benefit claimants. Dr Gail Allsopp, […]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been unable to explain why its chief medical adviser has no responsibility for safeguarding across significant parts of its work, including for key roles introduced after a disabled claimant starved to death. Dr Gail […]
The £1.3 billion redevelopment of an iconic cultural venue has failed to ensure step-free access at its neighbouring rail station, in a “slap in the face” to disabled visitors, staff and local residents. Millions of people every year are likely to visit […]
Stigmatising views, inaccessible public transport, a lack of job and volunteering opportunities, and the failure of schools to make reasonable adjustments, all contribute to the loneliness experienced by young disabled people, according to new government research. The research found that the impact […]
Senior civil servants and ministers spent more than a decade covering up evidence that links the actions of a government department with hundreds, and probably thousands, of deaths of disabled people who relied on the social security system. Documents secured through freedom […]
Disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) have made a plea to the government to listen to their “authentic” voices rather than disability charities that are not led by disabled people, which they say are “actively harmful” to their movement. In a response to the […]
A key treatment that ministers have placed at the heart of their strategy for pushing people with mental distress and ill-health into paid work has only a tiny impact on the probability of them securing jobs, government figures have shown. Disabled people’s […]
New unpublished research has exposed the impact of “shocking and eye-opening” levels of bullying and systematic mistakes on disabled people forced to rely on the universal credit working-age benefits system. Reports from focus groups hosted by Inclusion Scotland in October add to […]
The government is set to announce the next stage in developing its 10-year plan for social care within weeks, the health and social care secretary has told MPs. Wes Streeting (pictured) told members of the Commons health and social care committee yesterday […]
A local authority’s actions helped drive a disabled woman to attempt to take her own life, after it imposed an “impossible” two-week deadline upon her as part of a discriminatory social care assessment process. Clare*, from Cambridgeshire, who has multiple health conditions, […]
Two new reports from organisations founded by disabled entrepreneurs have highlighted some of the “serious” and “critical” barriers disabled people are facing in their daily lives. The reports were produced by accessible travel company Wheelie Good Travel Company (WGTC) and accessibility information […]
MPs have joined disabled activists and bereaved families in calling for a public inquiry into the years of deaths linked to the actions of ministers, senior civil servants and advisers at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Disability News Service (DNS) […]