A discredited US company that earns hundreds of millions of pounds a year through benefit assessment and employment support contracts has lost the right to run large parts of a care inspection scheme, following repeated concerns about its performance. Maximus, which […]
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ESA sanctions fall close to zero, but concerns remain over JSA and universal credit
The number of disabled people on the main out-of-work disability benefit who are being sanctioned by the government for failing to meet strict conditions has fallen close to zero, following years of criticism of the harsh regime. Department for Work and […]
News round-up: Capita, basic income, immigration, arts diversity, UC… and Motability
The performance of one of the government’s disability benefit assessment contractors has worsened over the last year and has remained well outside a government target it has never met, new figures have revealed. They show that the proportion of personal independence […]
Letter shows ‘appalling’ DWP misled two watchdogs over benefit deaths
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been failing to track recommendations made by its own secret reviews into benefit-related deaths, it has told the spending watchdog, three years after claiming it had corrected the same failings. The “appalling” revelation […]
Government faces legal action over failure to stop ATU ‘atrocities’
Disabled campaigners have welcomed the human rights watchdog’s decision to begin legal action against the government over its repeated failure to address the “distressing and horrific” treatment of people with learning difficulties and autistic people in mental health hospitals. The Equality […]
Errol Graham: Coroner urged to act on evidence that DWP hid links to deaths
A coroner who heard the inquest into a man who starved to death after his benefits were wrongly removed has been urged to act on information showing the government failed to pass her evidence linking its actions with other deaths. The […]
Labour leadership: Starmer backs calls for free social care
The MP leading the race to be Labour’s next leader has become the first candidate to back calls by disabled people’s groups for the introduction of free social care, funded by national progressive taxation. Sir Keir Starmer, Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary, […]
University leaves disabled student segregated at the back of lectures
A disabled student has been left “isolated” and “segregated” by her university’s failure to make her lectures accessible to her. Sarah-Marie Da Silva, a first-year zoology student and a wheelchair-user, has been trying since her first day on the course to […]
News round-up: Restraint, mental health, early deaths, poverty, and PIP back-payments
The human rights watchdog has launched an inquiry into how schools are monitoring the use of restraint on their pupils. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) inquiry will discover whether primary, secondary and special schools in England and Wales are […]
Labour leadership: Nandy pledges ‘truth and justice’ fight for DWP victims
Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy has backed calls for an independent inquiry into deaths linked to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and has pledged to fight for “truth and justice” on behalf of those who died. One of four […]