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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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A disabled peer has warned her own government that tightening social security rules even further could lead to more deaths of benefit claimants, days after Disability News Service (DNS) revealed there had been 60 secret reviews into such tragedies. Last week’s […]
Disabled benefit claimants have complained after being targeted by government letters telling them to attend short-notice “work-focussed interviews” (WFIs), but failing to mention that attendance was voluntary. Research by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) has found that employment and support allowance […]
The minister for disabled people has praised his government’s record on employing disabled people, with more than a quarter of a million more in work in the last year. Conservative Mark Harper said there were now more than three million disabled […]
A judge has told the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that part of the agreement signed by out-of-work benefit claimants does not comply with the law, following a legal challenge from a disabled job-seeker. The comments by Judge Christopher Ward […]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has carried out 60 secret reviews into benefit-related deaths in less than three years, Disability News Service (DNS) can reveal. DWP released the figures in response to a series of Freedom of Information Act […]
The government has sparked fury after appointing a US company with a lengthy record of discrimination, incompetence and alleged fraud to take over delivery of its controversial “fitness for work” tests from the much-criticised Atos Healthcare. Disability News Service (DNS) revealed […]