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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 […]
Thousands of disabled people could have had their benefit claims stopped unlawfully, campaigners believe, after a judge found that letters sent out by government contractors were failing to stress the serious consequences of failing to attend a face-to-face assessment. Upper tribunal […]
A new business that charges benefit claimants £100 to record their disability assessments has been accused of exploiting disabled people’s fears about social security reforms. Disability News Service (DNS) was contacted this week by the Liverpool-based business, which says it provides […]
The equality watchdog is considering taking action to tackle discrimination in the way decisions are made in the social security system, it revealed this morning. Although the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has not provided any further details, it released […]
Major changes to the way disabled students are assessed for their support risk turning the system into a replica of the government’s much-criticised personal independence payment (PIP) assessment regime, student leaders have warned. The changes will mean the closure in December […]
Disabled activists have responded to the government’s continuing failure to deal with the dishonesty and inaccuracy of the disability benefit assessment process by launching schemes to ensure that claimants can record their own assessments. Grassroots groups of disabled activists launched two […]
A benefits assessor told a disabled woman to ignore “irrelevant” information about a suicide attempt, shoved her son after he was asked to halt the assessment, challenged him to a fight, and then damaged their house as he left. The shocking […]
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 […]
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 […]
More than a third of disability assessment reports completed by a government contractor have been found to be significantly flawed, according to secret government files. The proportion of substandard personal independence payment (PIP) reports completed by outsourcing giant Capita has risen […]