the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues
A company paid to assess disabled people’s fitness for work was put under “immense pressure” by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to find claimants ineligible for out-of-work disability benefits, official records have revealed. DWP has insisted for years that […]
Labour’s shadow chancellor has joined disabled campaigners in backing calls for a criminal probe into the actions of former Tory ministers and senior civil servants, following the publication of a five-year investigation into the deaths of disabled benefit claimants. The 12,000-word […]
The first death was on New Year’s Eve 2011, a divorced woman in her early 50s who was found dead at her home in Scotland after taking her own life. She would later become known as Ms DE. She has never […]
The equality watchdog is considering taking action to tackle discrimination in the way decisions are made in the social security system, it revealed this morning. Although the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has not provided any further details, it released […]
Ministers are pushing ahead with controversial plans to merge two disability benefit assessments into one, despite concerns raised by disabled campaigners. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wants to offer a single face-to-face assessment – with the agreement of the […]
The Liberal Democrats have ruled out scrapping universal credit (UC) if they win power at the next general election, but they have agreed to scrap all benefit sanctions. At their annual conference in Bournemouth this week (pictured), members overwhelmingly endorsed the […]
Detailed evidence from disabled people has shown that disability benefit assessment reports are still riddled with distortions, twisted facts and ignorance, say grassroots campaigners. WOWCampaign launched its Assessing the Assessors campaign earlier this year to highlight the continued flaws within the […]
A senior civil servant has refused to allow the mother of a woman who took her own life – after being repeatedly failed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – to see a secret report into her daughter’s death. […]
Senior Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) civil servants have failed to answer key questions about links between the government’s policies and the deaths of disabled benefit claimants, during a face-to-face meeting with grieving parents. Emma Haddad, DWP’s director general for […]
A regulator failed to find a single nurse “not fit to practise” despite more than 220 complaints about face-to-face disability benefit assessments carried out for government contractors, its own figures have revealed. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) figures show it […]