Disability Rights UK

November 30, 2017 0

Oliver comes out of retirement to deliver stinging rebuke to ‘parasite’ charities

One of the key figures in the disabled people’s movement has come out of retirement to deliver a stinging rebuke to “parasitic” disability charities. Professor Mike Oliver (pictured), the disabled academic who first defined the “social model of disability”, was speaking at an event hosted by the University of Kent last night (Wednesday), as part

Employment

Philip Connolly speaking at a conference

November 30, 2017 0

Industrial strategy is ‘not fit for purpose’ due to ‘missing chapter’

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The government’s new Industrial Strategy is “not fit for purpose” and has a “missing chapter” because of its failure to address the needs of disabled people, say campaigners. The strategy, published as a white paper on Monday (27 November), aims to set out the government’s “long-term vision for how Britain can build on its

Benefits and Poverty

November 16, 2017 0

Disabled woman takes DWP minister to court over PIP mental health changes

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A disabled woman is taking work and pensions secretary David Gauke to court over “unfair and discriminatory” changes that were made to a disability benefit. There was widespread anger earlier this year when Penny Mordaunt, minister for disabled people, announced new rules that made it harder for people in mental distress to secure mobility

Benefits and Poverty

November 16, 2017 0

Frustration over DWP’s response to PIP safety legal ruling

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted that – despite a legal ruling – it can only pay disability benefit claimants a few months-worth of backdated payments, even if they have been missing out on the correct amount for years. Penny Mordaunt, the minister for disabled people, announced earlier this month that

Benefits and Poverty

November 9, 2017 0

Concern over government’s four-year delay on PIP ‘safety’

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Campaigners have asked why it took the government four years – and a tribunal judgement – to ensure that eligibility for a disability benefit takes proper account of whether a disabled person can carry out certain activities safely. Penny Mordaunt, the minister for disabled people, told MPs this week that as many as 10,000

Independent Living

Sue Bott giving evidence to a parliamentary committee

November 9, 2017 0

PA employers will not be exempt from further HMRC action on minimum wage

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Disabled people who employ personal assistants (PAs) will not be exempt from a new government scheme designed to ensure that sleep-in care workers receive the minimum wage back pay they are due, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed. Disability News Service (DNS) has been told by HMRC that some individual employers of PAs

Housing

November 2, 2017 0

‘Caution’ urged over government’s supported housing U-turn

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Long-term supported housing will continue to be funded through the social security system, the government has announced, while it has also scrapped plans to cap housing benefit payments, which caused huge concerns across the sector over the last two years. Former chancellor George Osborne announced two years ago in his autumn statement that no-one

Employment

October 26, 2017 0

Access to Work: Ombudsman faces questions over investigation

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A parliamentary ombudsman took more than three-and-a-half years to complete an investigation into the government’s Access to Work (AtW) scheme, and then failed to make any recommendations for improvements, despite upholding more than 40 complaints. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) yesterday (Wednesday) finally published its long-awaited report into 60 complaints it had

Benefits and Poverty

October 12, 2017 0

Concerns over criteria for ‘fitness for work’ reassessment exemptions

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Disabled campaigners have criticised new Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) rules that explain which benefit claimants will no longer have to be repeatedly put through the much-criticised “fitness for work” test. DWP announced last month, on the eve of the Conservative party conference in Manchester, that some claimants in the support group of

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