Mark Harper

Politics

December 14, 2017 0

DWP allowed just two print interviews with disability minister in five years

Conservative ministers for disabled people have given fewer than 20 interviews to national print and internet media since the 2010 general election – an average of less than three a year – according to information obtained by Disability News Service (DNS). There were no interviews arranged by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

Benefits and Poverty

May 1, 2015

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ELECTION 2015: Harper suggests backing for mental health treatment sanctions

Listen

The Tory minister for disabled people appears to have accidentally admitted what many disabled activists feared: that a Conservative government would cut the out-of-work benefits of people with mental health conditions if they refused treatment. In a debate broadcast on local radio, Mark Harper strongly suggested that people with mental health problems would be

Politics

April 10, 2015

5

Election 2015: Tories dodge election hustings on disability

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The Conservative party is refusing to defend its record in government on disability issues, after declining invitations to take part in three national, disability-related election hustings. While the Tories’ coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, have put up leading politicians to defend the government’s record in two of the hustings – and withdrew from the

Politics

Entrance to Mark Harper's office, showing doorstep, windows and slope of the hill

March 20, 2015

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Harper stays silent over his “totally unacceptable” office access measures

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The minister for disabled people has been heavily criticised for failing to ensure that his constituency office is accessible to disabled people, after Disability News Service (DNS) confirmed that a ramp used by his staff is potentially unsafe. One leading disabled access consultant described Mark Harper’s failure to provide proper access to the office

Employment

March 13, 2015

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Access to Work: Plan for new cap on awards ‘is huge concern’

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Government plans to restrict how much support any individual can receive through the Access to Work (AtW) scheme are a “huge concern” and will damage efforts to encourage Deaf people to become teachers, lawyers and politicians, campaigners have warned. They spoke out after Mark Harper, the Conservative minister for disabled people, announced further reforms

Politics

The shopfront of Mark Harper's office, including a doorstep

March 13, 2015

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Harper accused of hypocrisy after handing out access awards

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The minister for disabled people has been accused of hypocrisy, after announcing the winners of his Accessible Britain awards, despite his own access failings. A leading disabled people’s organisation, Equal Lives, said that Mark Harper should “put his own house in order before preaching to others”. The awards were launched last September, three months

Employment

February 28, 2015

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Harper caught out again after claiming proof of ‘jobs miracle’

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A minister has been accused of trying to cover up an embarrassing fall in the number of disabled people in work, after he issued a misleading press release about the government’s “jobs miracle”. Mark Harper, the Conservative minister for disabled people, announced that there had been an increase in the number of disabled people

Benefits and Poverty

A sign pointing to Parliament Street and Whitehall

February 21, 2015

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Government opts again for secrecy on benefit deaths

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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to publish secret reviews that should reveal whether the government’s welfare reforms were to blame for any of the deaths of 49 benefit claimants. Disability News Service (DNS) has been waiting since last November for DWP to decide whether it will release details of the

Benefits and Poverty

February 21, 2015

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Life in the PIP queue: Woman’s ‘wicked’ 14-month wait… just to be assessed

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A disabled woman has told how she has been forced to wait more than 14 months to be assessed for the government’s new disability benefit just days after a Tory minister praised his own performance in cutting waiting-times. Hannah Wells, from Ascot, Berkshire, told Disability News Service (DNS) that she put in her application

Benefits and Poverty

January 30, 2015

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IDS breaks pledge on PIP waiting-times, as tens of thousands still queue for months

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Government ministers have broken their high-profile promise to slash all waiting-times for the new disability benefit to less than four months. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) refused to comment yesterday (Thursday) on the broken promise that – by the end of 2014 – no new claimant would be waiting longer than 16

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