Disabled People Against Cuts

Benefits and Poverty

Penny Mordaunt speaking in the House of Commons

December 15, 2016

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‘Absurd’ DWP accused over refusal to publish PIP statistics

Ministers have been accused of “absurdity and obfuscation” after refusing to explain why they do not publish statistics showing the number of assessments carried out on disabled people applying for their new disability benefit. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes extensive data about the work capability assessment, which tests eligibility for the

Benefits and Poverty

Lord Freud speaking in the House of Lords

March 10, 2016

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DWP secrecy over benefit-related suicides

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Civil servants have refused to release information that would show how many secret reviews the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has carried out into benefit-related suicides in the last 15 months. The refusal emerged in a response to a freedom of information (FoI) request that revealed there have been a further nine “peer

Activism and Campaigning

Two protesters holding up a sheet with a campaigning message on it

March 10, 2016

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Protesters pledge to fight on against GP link-up with work advisors

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Disabled activists have pledged to continue the fight to halt a scheme that places welfare-to-work advisors from a discredited US outsourcing giant in GP practices. They spoke out after a protest by scores of activists blocked a busy central London roundabout for half an hour on Friday afternoon, bringing traffic to a standstill. The

Activism and Campaigning

March 4, 2016

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New campaign ruffles feathers as it takes aim at ESA ‘dead parrot’

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A new user-led campaign has issued a controversial call to replace out-of-work disability benefits with a new system that recognises that many sick and disabled people cannot find work because of their “reduced productivity”. The Dead Parrot campaign is the latest to call for the government to scrap employment and support allowance (ESA) and

Activism and Campaigning

Outside view of the Houses of Parliament

February 25, 2016 8

Government set to face legal action after Tory MPs back ‘cruel and nasty’ ESA cut

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The government is likely to face legal action if it pushes ahead with plans to cut the out-of-work disability benefits of hundreds of thousands of claimants by £1, 500 a year, say disabled activists. The warning came as Conservative MPs overturned a House of Lords amendment which had removed the proposed cut from the

Activism and Campaigning

February 4, 2016

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Protesters to march on GP surgery over Maximus job coach project

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Disabled activists are to march on a surgery next month in protest at its involvement in a government scheme that is placing welfare-to-work advisors from a discredited US outsourcing giant in GP practices. Six surgeries in Islington, north London, are taking part in the year-long pilot scheme run and funded by the Department for

Human Rights

Norman Lamb, seated, speaking into a microphone

September 25, 2015

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Lib Dem conference: Lamb welcomes UN’s inquiry into UK ‘rights violations’

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A former Liberal Democrat minister has welcomed the UN’s decision to carry out an unprecedented inquiry into “systematic and grave violations” of disabled people’s human rights in the UK. Disability News Service (DNS) first revealed the existence of the inquiry last August and it was finally confirmed officially by Justin Tomlinson, the minister for

Independent Living

ILF-users protesting against the closure of the fund

August 14, 2015

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Fresh concerns over transition from ILF closure

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New evidence has cast further doubt on how both central government and local authorities have planned the closure of the Independent Living Fund (ILF). The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has repeatedly insisted that every local authority in England was told by email the day after the fund closed exactly how much

Benefits and Poverty

February 21, 2015

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MP’s shock over civil servant’s U-turn on benefit deaths

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A Labour MP has said she is “shocked” that a senior civil servant will not be examining whether there is evidence that the government was to blame over any of 49 benefit-related deaths. Labour MP Debbie Abrahams spoke out after Disability News Service (DNS) told her that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

Independent Living

January 23, 2015 0

Political parties ‘must act’ on accessible offices

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Every political party should ensure that its MPs only rent constituency offices that are fully accessible to disabled people campaigners have demanded. They spoke out after a series of Disability News Service reports that revealed three ministers with equalities responsibilities – Mark Harper, Jo Swinson and Iain Duncan Smith – have inaccessible constituency offices.

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