DWP

Benefits and Poverty

June 14, 2018 0

Atos assessor told gay man he was ‘defective’ and needed to be cured by God

A doctor working for the government contractor Atos told a gay disabled man she was assessing for his entitlement to disability benefits that his sexuality meant he was “defective” and that God needed to fix him like a “broken” car. Atos was forced to pay Keith Morgan compensation after he was subjected to an

Benefits and Poverty

The outside of the Royal Courts of Justice

June 14, 2018 0

DWP in disarray as fresh legal defeat could mean fourth trawl through its records

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) looks set to carry out a fourth major search through its records to find disabled people who have been unfairly deprived of benefits, following the latest in a series of damaging legal defeats. Today (Thursday), the high court ruled that DWP had unlawfully discriminated against two disabled

Activism and Campaigning

June 14, 2018 0

Call for national research as fears grow over loss of DPOs

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There is an “urgent” need for research into the hidden issue of disabled people’s organisations across the country that are being forced to close because of funding problems, say campaigners. Shaping Our Lives (SOL), the national network of service users and disabled people, spoke out this week after further “worrying” figures showing the falling

Benefits and Poverty

June 7, 2018 0

Atos and Capita win PIP contract extension ‘because DWP is chained to a corpse’

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The government’s decision to extend the contracts of two discredited companies that carry out disability benefit assessments has been branded “appalling”, “shocking” and “a complete con”. The move has also been criticised by the Scottish government. Sarah Newton, the minister for disabled people, told MPs in a written statement this week that she planned

Benefits and Poverty

Esther McVey speaking in the House of Commons

June 7, 2018 0

DWP silence over new PIP backdating call

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Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey has refused to say how many disabled claimants are likely to receive backdated benefit payments, following the latest in a series of serious legal errors by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). McVey (pictured) has withdrawn appeals against two tribunal findings that her department wrongly deprived people

Benefits and Poverty

Paul Litchfield giving evidence to a Commons committee

May 31, 2018 0

DWP ‘has no record’ of whether it showed WCA death documents to reviewer

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) claims it has no record of whether it showed vital documents linking its “fitness for work” test with the deaths of benefit claimants to the expert it hired to review the assessment. Even though DWP possesses the documents, it is claiming it holds no information in its

Human Rights

May 24, 2018 0

Office for Disability Issues staff levels have plummeted since 2010, DWP admits

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The number of staff working in the government’s Office for Disability Issues (ODI) has plummeted by more than two-thirds under the coalition and Conservative governments, new figures released under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed. In March 2010, just before the Tory-led coalition came to power, there were the equivalent of 48 full-time

Benefits and Poverty

Daphne Hall gives evidence, with another witness next to her

May 24, 2018 0

DWP should think again on ESA backpayments… and offer compensation, MPs hear

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should reconsider its decision to offer only a partial backpayment of the money owed to 70,000 disabled people who for years were not receiving the correct level of out-of-work benefits, MPs have heard. One Conservative member of the public accounts committee, Anne Marie Morris, suggested that DWP

Employment

Esther McVey sitting at a desk, with subtitles showing the words: there are more women, black and minority ethnic and disabled people

May 17, 2018 0

Video catches McVey’s misleading claims about disability job stats

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Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey has been caught making misleading claims on social media about the number of disabled people in work. McVey had recorded a short video clip (pictured) welcoming this week’s new employment figures, and it was sent out on Tuesday by her department’s press office. In the clip she welcomes

Politics

Penny Mordaunt speaking in the House of Commons

May 17, 2018 0

Information commissioner ‘most concerned’ about DWP’s ‘foreign advice’ replies

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been criticised by the information commissioner over the way it dealt with a request to reveal the identities of seven foreign governments that asked for advice on disability reform. After facing a probe by the commissioner into its refusal to release the information, DWP is now

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