disability benefits

Politics

July 17, 2015

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Labour’s four leadership contenders show contrasting views on disability benefits

The four candidates to be the next leader of the Labour party have revealed their thoughts about disability issues such as benefit sanctions, the “fit for work” test, and Labour’s record in government. Concerns among many disabled activists were raised when leadership contender Andy Burnham said in May that Labour had “become associated with giving people who don’t want to help

Politics

April 3, 2015

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Election 2015: Tories dodge questions over disability benefit cuts

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The prime minister has become the third senior Conservative figure in a week to refuse to say in front of television cameras whether his party plans to tax key disability benefits after the general election. David Cameron was asked by SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon in last night’s (2 April) leaders’ debate on ITV how

Benefits and Poverty

March 6, 2015

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Secret DWP reviews called for improvements after benefit deaths

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The government has admitted that more than 30 secret reviews carried out following the deaths of benefit claimants called for improvements in how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) operates locally and nationally. The “appalling” statistic has added to pressure on DWP to publish the reviews, and is the latest in a series

Benefits and Poverty

February 21, 2015

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Tory silence over scope of ‘unethical’ review of incapacity benefits

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The Conservative party has refused to say if controversial proposals to cut the out-of-work disability benefits of people with obesity or addictions if they refuse treatment could also be applied to those with mental health conditions or other impairments. The prime minister David Cameron, has asked Dame Carol Black to carry out a “rapid

Benefits and Poverty

January 30, 2015

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Ministers change the story – yet again – on benefit-related deaths

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Ministers have admitted releasing yet more inaccurate information about their secret inquiries into the deaths of benefit claimants. Last year, the Department for Work and Pensions stated, in a Freedom of Information Act (FoI) response, that it did not hold any records on deaths linked to, or partially caused by, the withdrawal or non-payment

Benefits and Poverty

December 19, 2014 0

Recession and austerity ‘have provided a deadly mixture’

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The combination of the recession and the coalition’s austerity programme is likely to have been responsible for hundreds of suicides in England, a researcher at Oxford University has suggested. Dr Aaron Reeves, a sociologist at Oxford University and part of a group of researchers investigating the effects of recession and austerity, told a seminar

Benefits and Poverty

December 5, 2014 0

Minister: ‘We don’t warn social workers when vulnerable claimants are sanctioned’

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A minister has admitted that it is not government policy to warn health or social services when “vulnerable” service-users have had their benefits “sanctioned”. The admission by the Conservative employment minister Esther McVey comes just weeks after her department admitted to Disability News Service (DNS) that it had carried out 60 secret reviews into

Benefits and Poverty

December 5, 2014 0

Scottish devolution agreement ‘falls far short of disabled people’s demands’

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An agreement between the leading political parties over devolving further powers to Scotland “falls far short” of what was demanded by disabled people, say campaigners. The Smith Commission which reported last week, secured an agreement backed by the five parties represented in the Scottish parliament: the SNP, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Green party

Benefits and Poverty

November 28, 2014 0

Concern over government’s ‘dreadful’ response to MPs’ ‘fitness for work’ report

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Disabled activists have condemned the government’s latest refusal to order a major reform of its controversial “fitness for work” assessment. Four months ago, the Commons work and pensions select committee called for “fundamental redesign” of the much-criticised process used to determine eligibility for out-of-work disability benefits. Although campaigners were disappointed that the committee did

Benefits and Poverty

November 28, 2014 0

Widow’s treatment by DWP ‘has been inhumane and cruel’

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A disabled widow has accused the government of subjecting her and her late husband to “inhumane and cruel” treatment, after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) argued that it was not responsible for supporting them. Laurel Duut’s husband Peter died in October 2011 at the age of 42, just seven months after being

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