By John Pring Disability News Service April 27th 2017 The government failed for more than three years to keep a record of what actions it took – if any – after carrying out secret reviews into the suicides … Continue reading →
By Ruth Hunt Morning Star Alice Kirby tells Ruth Hunt how DWP benefit assessment practices contribute to the deterioration of claimants’ mental health, causing an increase in suicidal feelings Of late, there have been great strides made regarding the understanding … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 6th April 2017 Disabled activists fear that the UN committee examining the UK’s progress on implementing the disability rights convention may be ignoring links between the government’s welfare reforms and the deaths … Continue reading →
From Monday (3rd April), new recipients of employment and support allowance deemed healthy enough to carry out ‘work related activities’ will get up to £1,500 less each year than existing recipients. Anyone who feels able to work and does so … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 30th March 2017 The Labour party has been heavily criticised for again failing to defend disabled people from attacks on their rights, after its peers refused to vote against “discriminatory” cuts to … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 30th March 2017 Ministers have been accused of ignoring a public consultation and ploughing ahead with plans that will make their “fitness for work” testing regime even more stressful and unfair for … Continue reading →
Tuesday 28th March 2017 A panel of upper tribunal judges has made a decision relating to safety and supervision that Benefits and Work believes could allow many claimants with conditions such as epilepsy, heart disease, dementia and mental … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service March 16th 2017 Disabled activists have welcomed “timely” new research that concludes that the government’s “fitness for work” process has caused a deterioration in many people’s mental health which they have failed to recover … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service March 16th 2017 A local authority is to hear evidence from up to a dozen disabled people later this month as part of an inquiry into serious concerns about the system of assessing eligibility … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 9th March 2017 A group of nine disabled people with the same rare neurological condition have written to MPs to warn of “systemic malpractice” by healthcare professionals who carry out benefit assessments and … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 9th March 2017 Nearly nine in 10 Citizens Advice offices have reported problems with the accuracy of personal independence payment (PIP) assessment reports, MPs have been told. An urgent session of the … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 9th March 2017 Disabled activists have explained why they took to the streets around parliament to protest at the government’s latest cuts to disability benefits. The protest, organised by Disabled People Against … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 9th March 2017 Calls for government cuts to disability benefits to be reversed are likely to be debated separately – and voted on – by both Houses of Parliament later this month. … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 9th March 2017 A disabled peer has accused the minister for disabled people of “spinning like crazy” in an attempt to defend the government’s latest cuts to benefits for people with mental health … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 9th March 2017 One of the outsourcing giants paid to assess disabled people for their eligibility for benefits appears to have admitted that it is standard practice – approved by the government – to … Continue reading →
Abstract Background In England between 2010 and 2013, just over one million recipients of the main out-of-work disability benefit had their eligibility reassessed using a new functional checklist—the Work Capability Assessment. Doctors and disability rights organisations have raised concerns that … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 2nd March 2017 A disabled woman is seeking a judicial review by the high court of the errors she says were made in dealing with her claim for personal independence payment (PIP), … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 2nd March 2017 The UK government will not be able to achieve its aim of halving the disability employment gap because of its failure to address the “crucial” issue of independent living, according … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 2nd March 2017 The government should replace its “deeply flawed and inaccurate” disability benefits assessments with an in-house system – based on the social model – that understands the barriers faced by Deaf … Continue reading →
By John Pring Disability News Service 2nd March 2017 The information commissioner has questioned why the government failed to keep track of whether it had implemented recommendations on improving the safety of “vulnerable” disabled people that had been made … Continue reading →