employment and support allowance

Benefits and Poverty

Catherine Hale lies on a sofa as she works on her laptop

February 22, 2018 0

Benefit sanctions regime discriminates against disabled claimants, new research shows

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is facing claims that it has been running a discriminatory benefit sanctions regime, following the publication of new research. Academic Ben Baumberg Geiger has found that more than 900,000 disabled claimants of the mainstream out-of-work benefit jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) have been sanctioned since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition

Crime

Head and shoulders of David Barr wearing a blue woollen hat

July 28, 2016

14

Parents of ‘fit for work’ suicide man back call for Iain Duncan Smith prosecution

Listen

The parents of a disabled man who took his own life after being wrongly found “fit for work” have backed attempts to persuade Scottish police to investigate the actions of former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith. David and Maureen Barr have both told Disability News Service (DNS) that Duncan Smith and former

Benefits and Poverty

Stephen Carre smiling and stroking a black cat

March 17, 2016

2

DWP dismissed coroner’s concerns over WCA suicide link, document reveals

Listen

Civil servants and ministers dismissed a coroner’s concerns about the safety of the government’s “fitness for work” test, according to a draft response that apparently lay in Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) files for six years. Coroner Tom Osborne wrote a letter – under the “prevention of future deaths” process – to DWP

Benefits and Poverty

March 4, 2016

9

DWP ‘ruined me’ with ‘victimisation’, says disabled benefit claimant

Listen

A disabled man has accused the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of victimising him and ruining his life after it tried – and failed – to prosecute him for benefit fraud, despite letters from medical professionals confirming his serious medical conditions. The case of Gary Moyse has shone a spotlight on DWP’s use

Benefits and Poverty

December 11, 2015

4

‘Ruthless’ DWP ‘forced through WCA despite knowing of harm’

Listen

Ministers and civil servants were “ruthless” and “reckless” in forcing through their new “fitness for work” test and refusing to abandon it even after they were told of the harm it was causing, according to a former government adviser. Professor Geoff Shepherd, who was one of nine members of a working group set up

Benefits and Poverty

August 28, 2015

39

IDS announces ‘fitness for work’ U-turn that was five years in the making

Listen

Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith appears set to scrap the “fitness for work” test championed by successive Labour, coalition and Conservative governments, but there are fears that its replacement could prove even more damaging to disabled people. Duncan Smith (pictured) – in comments not included in a written version of a speech

Benefits and Poverty

A wheelchair-user sits in front of a stage, while the grass is covered by white flowers

August 28, 2015

2

Long-awaited deaths stats ‘do not tell the whole story’

Listen

The long-delayed release of government figures on the deaths of benefit claimants has added fuel to years of concerns about the impact of aggressive welfare reform on sick and disabled people. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released two sets of data today (Thursday), one showing mortality statistics for out-of-work disability benefit claimants,

Benefits and Poverty

December 19, 2014 0

Work Programme provider A4E ‘put lives at risk’ with cost-cutting move

Listen

One of the companies at the heart of the government’s welfare-to-work programme is facing allegations that it introduced an “incredibly dangerous” cost-cutting move that could put the lives of many disabled benefit claimants at risk. Earlier this year A4E allegedly introduced a new policy that forced advisers with no specialist training or experience to

Benefits and Poverty

December 19, 2014 0

Ministers look to loophole to hide truth on benefit-related deaths

Listen

Ministers have admitted they are considering using a legal loophole to avoid publishing the results of secret reviews into 60 benefit-related deaths. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) admitted to Disability News Service (DNS) last month that it had carried out 60 secret reviews into benefit-related deaths since February 2012. DNS subsequently put

Browsing: employment and support allowance