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A minister has suggested that the government would be doing a “great disservice” to disabled people if it stopped sanctioning their out-of-work benefits. The comment by Alok Sharma, the employment minister, came in correspondence with the Commons work and pensions committee […]
The failure of ministers to make a key change to the way the government will move existing benefit claimants onto universal credit could see hundreds of thousands of disabled people left without any income at all, campaigners fear. Work and pensions […]
The impact of the “migration” of hundreds of thousands of disabled people onto universal credit from next year could prove disastrous because of the “hoops” the government will force claimants to leap through, according to a disabled MP. Stephen Lloyd, work […]
People with mental health problems are becoming “tangled up” in the bureaucracy and flaws of the government’s new universal credit benefit system, a committee of MPs have heard. Members of the public accounts committee heard this week that claimants were facing […]
A national network of mental health service-users, survivors and activists is facing closure next month if it cannot secure new funding, after becoming the latest victim of competition from large, non-user-led charities and private sector organisations. The threat to the future […]
Disabled activists have called on the charity Mind to explain how seconding a senior member of staff to work for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over the last year has affected mental health service-users. In an open letter to […]
The Cabinet Office has defended the diversity of the UK honours system, despite the latest disability-related recipients being dominated by special school teachers and other professionals recognised for providing services to disabled people. The Queen’s birthday honours list, announced this week, […]
The appointment of Mind’s chief executive to head an employment review for the prime minister has raised fresh concerns among disabled activists about the mental health charity’s closeness to the government. Prime minister Theresa May announced this week that Paul Farmer […]
Mental health activists are mourning the loss of Robert Dellar, a “tenacious force for good in an uncaring world” and one of the founders of Mad Pride, who died at the weekend. Dellar avoided the media limelight, but had been a […]
The country’s largest disability charities have been accused of “selling out” disabled people, as they look set to play a significant role in providing back-to-work services under the government’s new Work and Health Programme. Disability News Service (DNS) has contacted seven […]