the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues
The charity that oversees the Motability car scheme says that “deeply troubling” Conservative plans to save £1 billion a year by removing VAT exemptions could instead “dismantle” the scheme and would raise just a few million pounds in revenue. Motability Foundation’s boss, […]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is secretly introducing changes to how it checks the quality of disability assessments, risking claimant safety and increasing the chance of dodgy reports slipping through the net, Disability News Service has learned. A member of […]
A disabled peer has broken new ground this week by using a version of her own voice – generated by artificial intelligence (AI) – to deliver a speech in the House of Lords. Baroness [Jane] Campbell used voice cloning technology devised by […]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been ordered to release a report that examined the quality of personal independence payment (PIP) assessments carried out by telephone, after one of them was linked to the death or serious harm suffered by […]
Disabled people can now report media coverage that scapegoats and stigmatises them and contributes to the hostile environment many of them face in their daily lives, thanks to a new campaign. The Disability Media Action campaign was launched this week by Inclusion […]
Disabled campaigners have given a broadly warm welcome to a high-profile independent review into the prevalence of mental ill-health and distress, ADHD and autism in England, despite attempts by commentators and politicians to misrepresent its findings. The review for the government, chaired […]
The Times has joined a long list of organisations and individuals that are ignoring the risks posed by cuts and reforms to the social security system for disabled people who rely on benefits to survive. The newspaper this week launched The Times […]
Police forces and prosecutors are both finally working to increase the number of disability hate crime prosecutions in England and Wales, as the number of court cases remains stubbornly low, despite a long-awaited rise. Disability News Service (DNS) has been reporting for […]
The Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary may finally have accepted that spending on social security is not “out of control”, just as her party says it wants to cut more than £36 billion a year from the “welfare” budget. The apparent […]
A Tory shadow minister has said that accusing parents of “gaming the system” to secure support for their disabled children is “populist BS*”, just hours after his leader accused many disabled adults of doing exactly that when claiming benefits. The contrasting comments […]
Disabled campaigners have welcomed a government strategy that says new passenger trains should aim to allow level boarding wherever possible, but they say key amendments to the railways bill will be needed to make the plan a reality. They have also called […]
The government has refused to say whether the disability minister was told that a member of the steering group reviewing personal independence payment (PIP) was about to publish a report calling for spending on disability benefits for children to be slashed. Jean-André […]
An accessible transport expert was left stuck in mid-air on an unsafe platform lift for over an hour at this week’s Conservative conference, just after the party’s own disability group admitted access was not a priority for the Tories. Clive Gilbert, head […]
The disability minister has supported his government’s “unprincipled” decision to slash accessible housing targets set by the last Conservative government. Under plans put forward by Tory ministers, 100 per cent of homes would have had to be built to the M4(2)* accessible […]
The Green party has been unable to explain why it failed to use its “biggest ever party conference” in Brighton this week to promote any new policies aimed at addressing the many societal barriers facing disabled people. Analysis of the 12 press […]
Transport industry managers are failing to budget for access to be embedded from the start of major projects because of the lack of national accessibility standards, a meeting at this week’s Conservative party conference has heard. The fringe meeting in Birmingham – […]
The Conservative party has refused to explain why it blocked Disability News Service (DNS) from receiving its press releases at its annual conference, and why it refuses to answer questions on disability-related policy. Although DNS was granted media accreditation to this year’s […]
Andy Burnham’s announcement of free personal care as part of a new National Care Service will only apply to those over 65, and not to working-age disabled people, No 10 has confirmed, sparking shock and concern among disabled people’s organisations. The prime […]
The government’s youth inactivity adviser swore at Disability News Service’s editor after being challenged about his failure to discuss the safeguarding risks involved in forcing tens of thousands of young disabled people into employment. A series of speeches by former New Labour […]
The minister leading a government review of personal independence payment (PIP) has refused four times to rule out cuts to spending, but he has promised no disabled person will be forced to accept products or services instead of cash payments. In an […]
The disability minister has performed a rapid U-turn and agreed to do more to involve disabled people in producing his cross-government disability strategy, but his efforts have still been described as “back to front and feeble”. Sir Stephen Timms, the minister for […]