Lord Freud

Employment

Frank Field speaking at a session of the work and pensions committee

September 21, 2017 0

Labour MP told to quit influential post after ‘offensive’ minimum wage call

Disabled activists have called for a Labour MP to resign as chair of the Commons work and pensions select committee, after he called for employers to be allowed to pay some disabled people less than the minimum wage. Frank Field (pictured) made the call in a new collection of essays on employment and disabled

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

Benefits and Poverty

March 4, 2016

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Disabled peers lead fresh efforts to halt ‘offensive’ WRAG cut

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Three disabled peers have led fresh efforts to halt government plans to cut £1, 500 a year from hundreds of thousands of claimants of out-of-work disability benefits. The House of Lords overwhelmingly passed an amendment – later rejected by MPs* – by the disabled crossbench peer Lord [Colin] Low that would have delayed the

Benefits and Poverty

January 28, 2016

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Disabled peers inflict heavy defeat as government loses its WRAG cuts

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The government has suffered a crushing defeat in the House of Lords over its plans to cut future support for hundreds of thousands of disabled people found “not fit for work”, thanks to an amendment proposed by a disabled peer. Lord [Colin] Low’s amendment – to remove the proposed cuts from the welfare reform

Employment

Baroness Campbell speaking in the House of Lords

January 28, 2016

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DWP refuses to back down over annual disability employment report

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A disabled peer has failed to persuade the government to publish an annual report on progress towards its target of halving the disability employment gap. Baroness [Jane] Campbell had proposed an amendment to the government’s welfare reform and work bill during this week’s report stage in the Lords. She told fellow peers that without

Housing

Lord Freud giving evidence to the committee

January 14, 2016

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Disabled people are falling through holes in local welfare safety net, warn MPs

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A committee of MPs has called on the government to stop local authorities discriminating against disabled people who need financial help following the introduction of the “bedroom tax”. The work and pensions select committee’s report on the local welfare safety net – which focuses on England – warns that many councils are failing to

Benefits and Poverty

Lord Low speaking during the House of Lords debate

December 11, 2015

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WRAG cut ‘could harm health and damage work prospects’

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Government plans to cut support for many disabled people on out-of-work benefits could harm their mental health and make it harder for them to return to work, according to a review led by a disabled peer. The review by the disabled peers Lord [Colin] Low and Baroness [Tanni] Grey-Thompson, and their fellow crossbencher Baroness

Benefits and Poverty

June 12, 2015

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No promises from minister on benefit cuts for disabled people

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A minister has refused to promise that the government will protect disabled people from further benefit cuts in next month’s budget. Lord Freud, the welfare reform minister David Cameron, had promised during the election campaign that he wanted to “enhance” and “safeguard” PIP, which is replacing working-age disability living allowance (DLA). But Lord Freud

Benefits and Poverty

Outside view of the Houses of Parliament

June 5, 2015

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Government cuts ‘could see disabled people slide back to the bad old days’

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Government policies on social care, health and benefits risk sending disabled people sliding back to “the bad old days of dependency, isolation and poverty”, a disabled peer has warned. In a Lords debate on the Queen’s speech, Baroness [Jane] Campbell urged the government to work closely with disabled people – as Tory governments in

Politics

May 15, 2015

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Halfon joins cabinet, while former disability minister will oversee care reforms

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David Cameron’s new government will include a campaigning disabled MP and a former minister for disabled people from the last time the Tories had an absolute Commons majority, 18 years ago. The prime minister announced this week that Robert Halfon, the disabled MP for Harlow, had been appointed a vice-chairman of the Conservative party,

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