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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted to the public spending watchdog that its system of disability benefits assessments is too slow, too expensive and too inaccurate, and too many claimants do not trust how it makes decisions. The […]
Waiting-times faced by disabled people trying to use a benefit enquiry line are even higher than previously thought, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted. Disability News Service (DNS) revealed last week that the “average speed of answer” for […]
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is refusing to help a disabled woman who was unable to appeal against the rejection of her disability benefit claim because she had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Dee Daniels was left “pauperised” […]
Waiting-times on a benefit enquiry line have continued to rise, despite the minister for disabled people promising that his department was recruiting extra staff to bring them down. In April, Tom Pursglove (pictured) admitted that the average waiting time in March […]
The government has awarded five-year disability assessment contracts worth more than £560 million to the outsourcing giant Capita, on the same day that a safeguarding review linked the company to the death of a young disabled mum. Last week, the safeguarding […]
A young disabled mother who took her own life had been left with stress and “debilitating anxiety” by the actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and its contractor Capita, an inquiry has found. A safeguarding adults review into […]
Fresh doubts have been raised about the impact on disabled people of government plans to scrap the work capability assessment as part of a controversial package of welfare reforms. As part of their Transforming Support white paper, ministers plan to abolish the […]
New official figures have confirmed that only a “miniscule” proportion of spending on disability benefits is paid out to fraudulent claims, just weeks after the disability minister posted a “hostile” video on social media suggesting it was a serious problem. There […]
Disabled people have described how “disgraceful” and stressful waiting-times on a benefit enquiry line are now regularly lasting as long as 90 minutes. The minister for disabled people, Tom Pursglove (pictured), admitted last month that the average waiting time for the […]
Job coaches with no academic qualifications could be making life-changing – and potentially life-ending – decisions on whether a disabled person must carry out work-related activity, if the government goes ahead with its plans to scrap the “fitness for work” test. […]