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New official figures show that the government contractor Atos Healthcare is 50 times more likely to recommend wrongly that someone is “fit for work” than it is to make an error in finding someone not fit for work. The government statistics […]
More than 100,000 disabled people had their unemployment benefits removed in just one year as a punishment for not complying with strict new government rules, according to official figures. The figures show that 104,200 disabled claimants of jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) were […]
A new series of video interviews with disabled people shows the kind of “amazing histories” that should be recorded for future generations, according to the researcher who has led the project. Remembering and Reflecting: Disability and Community in Cornwall, headed by […]
Staff working for the outsourcing giant Atos refused to comment this week as disabled activists protested outside their head office about the company’s involvement with the government’s “fitness for work” test. The protest near Euston station in London was one of […]
Activists have staged demonstrations at scores of locations across the country to highlight how a government contractor has “humiliated” disabled benefits claimants, and to call for the abolition of the “fitness for work” test. The national day of action saw an […]
Professionals in parts of England still do not understand their duty to ensure that disabled people have the support they need to make “critical” decisions about their health and social care, according to a new government report. The duty to refer […]
A leading police expert has called on the criminal justice system to do more to tackle disability hate crime. Superintendent Paul Giannasi, a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers’ (ACPO) hate crime group, was speaking to Disability News Service […]
Police say they are keeping “an open mind” about the motive for the “brutal” murder of a young disabled man who was stabbed to death in west London. Dean Mayley, from Northolt, died from a single stab wound to the chest, […]
Government delays in deciding the future of the Independent Living Fund (ILF) are causing “undue distress” to thousands of disabled people who rely on it to live independently, according to a leading disabled people’s organisation. Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People […]
The much-criticised government contractor Atos Healthcare is openly blaming a shortage of doctors willing to work for the company for causing lengthy delays in assessing disabled people for their “fitness for work”. The recruitment crisis is now so severe that staff […]