New figures show average pay rates for disabled people fell seven times faster than those for non-disabled people during the five years of the coalition government. The figures were produced for Being Disabled In Britain, a major review of disability inequality […]
DWP
DWP presentation on ESA plans ‘confirms worst fears’ about green paper
Ministers have been accused of ignoring a public consultation and ploughing ahead with plans that will make their “fitness for work” testing regime even more stressful and unfair for sick and disabled people. A presentation delivered by two senior Department for […]
Nearly half of PIP reviews saw award cut, according to unpublished DWP figures
Nearly half of disabled people subject to “planned reviews” of their eligibility for the government’s new disability benefit are having their existing award either cut or removed completely, according to new figures obtained by Disability News Service (DNS). The unpublished Department […]
Ministers forced into sickness benefit u-turn over ‘sanction fodder’ measure
Ministers have been forced to scrap a drastic change to benefit rules that meant seriously ill claimants found unfairly “fit for work” were no longer allowed to take an extended period of sickness absence, even if they had a sicknote from […]
PIP investigation: Council probes ‘shockingly poor and dishonest’ assessments
A local authority is to hear evidence from up to a dozen disabled people later this month as part of an inquiry into serious concerns about the system of assessing eligibility for the government’s new disability benefit. Stoke-on-Trent City Council launched […]
Maximus ‘admits’ using brutal and dangerous suicide questions
One of the outsourcing giants paid to assess disabled people for their eligibility for benefits appears to have admitted that it is standard practice – approved by the government – to ask claimants with mental health conditions why they failed to […]
PIP cuts ‘will be debated and voted on’
Calls for government cuts to disability benefits to be reversed are likely to be debated separately – and voted on – by both Houses of Parliament later this month. The amendments to personal independence payment (PIP) regulations were announced last month […]
PIP investigation: MPs’ evidence session confirms concerns, but dodges dishonesty claims
Nearly nine in 10 Citizens Advice offices have reported problems with the accuracy of personal independence payment (PIP) assessment reports, MPs have been told. An urgent session of the Commons work and pensions select committee was hearing evidence from four welfare […]
PIP investigation: Claimant group tell MPs of ‘systemic malpractice’ by assessors
A group of nine disabled people with the same rare neurological condition have written to MPs to warn of “systemic malpractice” by healthcare professionals who carry out benefit assessments and then write “fraudulent reports” for the government. The nine who signed […]
Billions of pounds of PIP cuts ‘will put lives at risk’
The announcement of billions of pounds of cuts to the government’s new disability benefit is a discriminatory attack on people with mental health problems, will push many of them further into poverty and isolation, and will put lives at risk, say […]