wca

Benefits and Poverty

Ellen Clifford speaking into a microphone, watched by three other panel members

October 5, 2017 0

Tory conference: Silence on eligibility means WCA announcement is ‘meaningless’

Changes that mean some sick and disabled benefit claimants will no longer need to face repeated assessments of their capability for work are “meaningless” because the government has refused to say which people will be affected, say campaigners. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced last week, on the eve of the Conservative

Benefits and Poverty

September 7, 2017 0

DWP whistleblower from ESA helpline exposes ‘obscene’ system

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A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) whistleblower has described how a “mismanaged” and under-funded social security system is leaving many disability benefit claimants penniless and helpless. George* works on DWP’s employment and support allowance (ESA) helpline and has told Disability News Service (DNS) that the experience has left him shocked and frustrated at

Benefits and Poverty

Head and shoulders of CeaJay Clem, showing scarring around nose and mouth

August 17, 2017 0

‘My picture is proof that healthcare professionals lie in benefit assessments’

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A furious disability benefit claimant has produced what she says is the clearest evidence yet that healthcare professionals working for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are writing dishonest assessment reports. CeaJay Clem, from Gloucestershire, has chronic discoid lupus, which has caused a significant facial disfigurement (pictured). But despite the impact of the

Education

August 10, 2017 0

Ministers ‘failed to consider impact of rules that would cut university access’

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Ministers have effectively admitted introducing a policy that will prevent many disabled students from entering higher education, without knowing how much money it would save or how many young disabled people would be affected. The admission came in response to a freedom of information (FoI) request that sought to clarify the potential impact of

Education

Lord Addington speaking in the House of Lords

August 3, 2017 0

Universal credit rules ‘could bar many disabled students from university’

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Many disabled students could effectively be barred from higher education because of the introduction of the government’s new universal credit, according to MPs and peers who have written to the minister for employment. The seven MPs and peers, all members of the all-party parliamentary group for disability, have joined the new chief executive of

Benefits and Poverty

Penny Mordaunt sitting on the edge of a stage, with Labour's Kate Green sitting nearby

June 22, 2017 0

Queen’s speech: Government appears to dump Mordaunt’s WCA election promise

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A Tory election promise to “dismantle” the work capability assessment (WCA) through new legislation appears to have been abandoned, with the Queen’s speech containing no mention of any new social security bill. The speech contains brief details of all planned legislation over the next two years – rather than the usual 12 months –

Benefits and Poverty

A man sits in a chair, smiling at the camera

June 22, 2017 0

Shock after inquest ignores ‘fitness for work’ and jobcentre concerns

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A coroner has declined to explain why he failed to take evidence on the apparent links between the government’s “fitness for work” test and the death of a disabled north London man. An inquest into the death of 56-year-old Lawrence Bond (pictured), held on Friday, was expected to hear details of how he was

Politics

June 1, 2017 0

Election 2017: UKIP silence after manifesto confuses PIP assessment with WCA

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UKIP’s disability spokeswoman has refused to explain both how the party has managed to confuse two key disability benefits in its election manifesto, and – for the second election running – which parts of the UN disability convention it supports. UKIP’s manifesto includes a section titled “Ending the injustice of personal independence payments”, which

Benefits and Poverty

Hundreds of white flowers lying on grass

May 25, 2017 0

Activists ‘horrified’ by universal credit rules forcing sick claimants into work activity

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“Very dangerous” rules are forcing severely-ill people applying for the government’s new universal credit to look for jobs and take part in training, even though their GPs have said they are not fit for work, “horrified” disabled activists have warned. The rules – which have never been announced or publicised by the Department for

Employment

May 4, 2017

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Boycott call after DWP wrongly claims DPOs helped devise punitive work scheme

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Disabled activists have called on disability charities to boycott any further co-operation with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), after it wrongly claimed that disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) had helped draw up its punitive new work scheme. DWP claimed that DPOs “co-designed” plans to force new claimants of out-of-work disability benefits to take

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