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The government’s own social security advisers have called for “urgent” action to stop jobcentre staff forcing claimants of universal credit (UC) to take medication or attend medical appointments in return for receiving their benefits. The social security advisory committee (SSAC) included […]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) appears to have secured funding to set up an independent panel to examine cases where its own failings have led to the deaths of benefit claimants. Although DWP refused to provide any details on […]
The amount of time that nurses and physiotherapists spend carrying out face-to-face disability benefit assessments can vary hugely, depending on where the test takes place, according to analysis of new Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures. Although the figures do […]
Two charities that will receive £51 million in government funding to provide advice and support to claimants of universal credit (UC) signed gagging clauses that prevent them bringing the Department for Work and Pensions “unfairly” into “disrepute”. Both Citizens Advice (CA) […]
The proportion of disability assessment reports completed by government contractor Atos that were found to be significantly flawed has soared by more than 40 per cent in the last two years. The percentage of substandard Atos* personal independence payment (PIP) reports […]
The rise to power of a new Conservative government under the leadership of Boris Johnson has created a “really dark moment” for disabled people, anti-austerity activists have been told at the launch of a new book. Frances Ryan, a disabled journalist […]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing another court action over the financial impact of universal credit on disabled people, which legal experts say is costing many claimants thousands of pounds a year. Two disabled people with high support […]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) waited 18 months before it took action to ensure the safety of a benefit claimant it had assessed as “vulnerable” because of significant mental health problems. Mike Owen told DWP that he was a […]
The government’s mainstream benefit sanctions regime has been discriminating against disabled people throughout nearly the whole of the last decade, according to new figures secured by Disability News Service (DNS). The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures, obtained through a […]
New research for the mayor of London has shown how 10 years of government welfare cuts and reforms have “discriminated” against disabled Londoners. The mayor of London has written to work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd to ask her to reverse […]