The disability movement looks set for a legal showdown with the government, after the coalition prepared to force deeply unpopular measures within its welfare reform bill into law.
More than 20 disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) and other charities are now discussing a possible legal case against the government.
Leading figures in the movement had already discussed halting [...]
A disabled senior government adviser has admitted failing to tell civil servants about freelance work she carried out for an insurance giant that is set to make millions from the coalition’s incapacity benefit (IB) reforms.
Dr Rachel Perkins, chair of the government’s Equality 2025 high-level advisory body of disabled people, ran a half-day training event in [...]
It is “entirely obvious” that the government’s welfare cuts are “falling entirely” on disabled people and families with children, according to a leading academic.
Professor Paul Gregg, an economic and social policy expert at the University of Bath, told a TUC seminar on the government’s cuts and reforms that disabled people were “very much getting the [...]
Nearly two-thirds of local authorities in England have reduced their spending on support in the community for disabled and older people, according to a survey commissioned by a committee of MPs.
The survey, carried out for the Commons health select committee as part of its review of public spending in health and social care, found budgets [...]
The broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has come under attack again after ruling that an offensive, disablist routine by comedian Ricky Gervais did not breach its broadcasting code.
Channel 4, which broadcast Gervais’s stand-up show Science last October, has refused to apologise despite the comedian repeatedly describing the singer Susan Boyle as looking like “a mong”, a highly [...]
A leading user-led arts organisation has raised new concerns over the search for volunteers to take part in the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Paralympics.
Last week, disabled artists and performers warned that many disabled people would be put off by a call from London 2012 for 5,000 volunteers with “huge amounts of [...]
Disabled activists are warning that local authorities could try to copy a council that has withdrawn funding from a direct payments support service.
Even though government guidance encourages councils to provide an independent advice and information service for users of direct payments, Hampshire County Council has stopped funding the service that had been provided by Southampton [...]
New figures show the number of disabled people found eligible for unconditional support under the much-criticised “fitness for work” regime has doubled since its introduction by the Labour government in 2008.
Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) this week reveal that the proportion of new claimants who have completed an assessment and [...]
A disability charity has begun legal action against a budget airline over its failure to make its website accessible to blind and partially-sighted customers.
RNIB says bmibaby has failed to take action to ensure that customers who use screen-readers or cannot use a mouse can book flights on its website, despite being alerted to problems in [...]
The government has welcomed new figures which show a slight rise in the number of disabled people granted funds to make their workplaces more accessible.
The increase in “new customers helped” through the Access to Work (AtW) scheme comes after the number of people receiving support plummeted during the coalition’s first year.
The figures show the number [...]
The world’s biggest disability and deaf arts festival has won a prestigious annual award, a £10,000 prize, and a huge vote of confidence from regional business leaders.
DaDaFest 2012 has been named as the winner of this year’s Lever Prize, which will also see the festival benefit from a year-long collaboration with the North West Business [...]
The government has admitted failing to carry out any statistical analysis of the results of its controversial disability living allowance (DLA) consultation.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was accused earlier this month of misleading parliament and the public about the scale of opposition to the government’s DLA reforms.
In Responsible Reform – otherwise known as [...]
Do you have a disability and drive regularly? If you can answer yes to these questions then why not get involved in a very exciting trial for a ‘Sat Nav’ that is set to launch in 2012.
The trial which is set to take place in March will give you the opportunity to trial the device [...]
Since 1990, national charity Canine Partners has been training assistance dogs to help people with physical disabilities to lead a more independent life. Over those years, many hundreds of people with a diverse range of conditions and disabilities, have had their lives transformed, including ex-servicemen and women.
Canine Partners’ work with training dogs for the men [...]
With entry to the 2012 competition now closed organisers report a bumper number of applications. Ron Glasgow, from Glasgows who are organising the competition on behalf of VisitEngland explains “We have had 385 applications. This is three times the number of applications for the former Enjoy England Awards and twice what was anticipated. This is [...]
A senior government adviser has failed to declare freelance work carried out for the insurance giant set to make huge financial gains through the coalition’s incapacity benefit (IB) reforms, Disability News Service (DNS) can reveal.
The adviser failed to declare the work carried out for the insurance company Unum in the register of interests, DNS understands.
The [...]
A health minister has refused to accept the existence of a huge gap between the care and support disabled people need, and the funding made available to pay for it.
Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat care services minister, was giving evidence to the Commons health committee’s inquiry into social care.
Labour MP Barbara Keeley told Burstow there [...]
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is reviewing a barrister’s decision not to call for stricter sentences for three people who took part in a “degrading” hate crime attack on a disabled man.
The man, who has learning difficulties, was taped to a lamppost in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, Greater Manchester, by three “friends” and covered with food, paint [...]
A disabled American actor has caused an internet sensation after using his acceptance speech at a televised US awards ceremony to offer support to the British victim of a disability hate crime attack.
Peter Dinklage was accepting his Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a series – for his role in the fantasy epic Game [...]
Government cuts to vital disability benefits will be even harsher than the coalition previously admitted, with nearly half a million people set to lose their right to disability living allowance (DLA).
The government finally published figures this week which show estimates of how its plans to scrap working-age DLA and replace it with a new personal [...]