the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues
A disabled teenager killed himself on the same day that pay-day loans company Wonga cleared out his bank account, leaving him without a single penny to survive on. Kane Sparham-Price, who had “numerous problems including those connected with his mental health”, […]
Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith appears set to scrap the “fitness for work” test championed by successive Labour, coalition and Conservative governments, but there are fears that its replacement could prove even more damaging to disabled people. Duncan Smith […]
The long-delayed release of government figures on the deaths of benefit claimants has added fuel to years of concerns about the impact of aggressive welfare reform on sick and disabled people. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released two sets […]
New evidence proves that the controversial outsourcing contractor Atos should be stripped of all of its disability benefit assessment contracts, say disabled campaigners. Fresh concerns about the behaviour of Atos and its assessors emerged after Disability News Service (DNS) revealed last […]
Fresh concerns have been raised about recruitment at one of the outsourcing companies delivering assessments for the government’s new disability benefit, after it sent out a “very urgent” request for 90 more staff. Only two months ago, Disability News Service (DNS) […]
A nurse working for the controversial outsourcing company Atos Healthcare repeatedly lied about a disabled man he was assessing for the government’s new disability benefit it has been claimed. The Atos assessor stated in his report that claimant Colin Stupples-Whyley had […]
A disabled woman has lost the car she relied on to attend vital hospital appointments after the government decided she no longer needed higher level mobility support without bothering to carry out a face-to-face assessment of her needs. Jo Jones (pictured), […]
The proportion of disabled people stuck in the queue to be assessed for the government’s new disability benefit is more than five times higher in parts of the country managed by Atos Healthcare, Disability News Service (DNS) can reveal. Department for […]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has sparked new concerns after releasing “bizarre” figures that suggest ministers plan to cut the number of people eligible for out-of-work disability benefits by a third in 2017-18. The statistics were provided by employment […]
Government proposals that some groups of disabled people should have their benefits cut if they refuse treatment have been branded “ethically unacceptable” and “sheer bullying”. The Conservative pledge to carry out a review into the proposals was treated with shock and […]