Labour appears to have used its plans for a National Care Service as the focus for its bid for the votes of disabled people. The election manifesto contains a lengthy section on the care and support reforms announced by health secretary […]
Personal care bill becomes law
A bill to provide free personal care to disabled and older people with the highest needs has become law, after government concessions were approved by peers. Health secretary Andy Burnham last week described the personal care at home bill as the […]
ELECTION 2010: ALLFIE and Trailblazers issue election calls
Campaigners have called for action over the number of young disabled people who are not in mainstream education, employment or training. The Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE) said political parties should stop ignoring the segregation and exclusion of disabled learners from […]
ELECTION 2010: Parties ‘must ensure inclusive election campaign’
Political parties have been told to reach out to disabled voters in the lead-up to the general election, with campaigns that are “truly inclusive and representative”. The call came after the prime minister, Gordon Brown, finally confirmed that the general election […]
Equality bill set to become law, but work remains
Disabled peers and other campaigners have welcomed the major improvements to the equality bill they helped to secure before it cleared its final parliamentary hurdle. The bill is now set to become law after MPs approved amendments made in the Lords, […]
Tories back out of agreement on disabled candidates
The Conservative party appears to have backed out of a cross-party agreement to publish reports on how many parliamentary candidates are disabled people. The proposal was a key recommendation of a cross-party “conference” headed by the speaker of the House of […]
Report makes ‘compelling’ case for ‘diversion’ from prison
Two mental health charities have laid out a “compelling” case for treating offenders with mental health conditions in the community, rather than sending them to prison. The report, by Rethink and the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, says such policies would […]
Blood campaigners attack government’s ‘cheap initiative’
Campaigners have attacked the government for blocking new laws that would have improved support for disabled people who were infected with contaminated NHS blood in the 1970s and 1980s. The contaminated blood (support for infected and bereaved persons) bill had been […]
Government ‘must act on scooter safety’
The government should collect better information about the number of accidents involving mobility scooters according to a committee of MPs. A new report from the transport select committee says anecdotal evidence suggests there are growing numbers of scooter-users and accidents involving […]
User involvement on autism board is ‘woefully inadequate’
Campaigners have criticised plans to appoint just one person with autism to a high-level board set up to monitor progress on the government’s new national strategy on adults with autism. The Department of Health (DH) has already appointed 21 people to […]