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Disability News Service

the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues

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Equality watchdog completes draft report into ‘unlawful acts’ by DWP and its Conservative ministers

21st May 2026

The equality watchdog has completed its draft report into allegations of unlawful treatment of disabled benefit claimants by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), two years after the inquiry was launched under the last government. The Equality and Human Rights Commission […]

Image of front cover of The Department, showing a crinkled memo with the words ‘Restricted - Policy. The Department. How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence. John Pring.’ Next to the image is a red box with the following words in white: ‘A very interesting book... a very important contribution to this whole debate’ - Sir Stephen Timms, minister for social security and disability. plutobooks.com and the Pluto Press logo.

Latest Stories

Motability pauses Drive Smart scheme, but customers raise concerns as wider changes remain in place

21st May 2026

Disabled campaigners have welcomed Motability’s decision to suspend a controversial programme that uses technology to monitor how its customers are driving, but they have also called for it to scrap other damaging changes that remain in place. There are also concerns that […]

Jobs can be a cure for ‘tsunami of distress’, says former minister reviewing disabled young NEETs for DWP

21st May 2026

The former Labour minister commissioned to investigate why so many younger people are not in jobs, training or education has told MPs that he believes work can be a cure for the “tsunami of distress” affecting young people. Former Labour health secretary […]

Anger over TUC’s decision to draw close links between PIP and work in Timms Review response

21st May 2026

Disabled anti-cuts activists have heavily criticised the TUC after it drew close links between personal independence payment (PIP) and employment in its response to a government review on the future of the disability benefit. In its submission to the Timms Review, the […]

DWP reveals latest excuse for refusing to tell the truth about cuts to Access to Work

21st May 2026

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has found another excuse for not releasing vital information that would show why cuts were made to many disabled people’s Access to Work packages after Labour came to power in July 2024. Disability News Service […]

SEND reforms offer only cuts and dismantling of rights, disabled people’s organisation tells ministers

21st May 2026

The government’s reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system will violate disabled people’s rights and worsen inequality, according to a leading disabled people’s organisation. In its response to the government’s SEND reform consultation, Disability Rights UK (DR UK) warns […]

Whately and McFadden compete to provide most misleading contributions to king’s speech debate

21st May 2026

A Commons debate that followed last week’s king’s speech was littered with misleading statements about disabled people’s support, both from the Conservative opposition and the Labour government. Much of the hostile rhetoric on Thursday came from Helen Whately, the Conservative shadow work […]

Fears of another safeguarding catastrophe after DWP stops benefits of nearly 23,000 ESA claimants

14th May 2026

New government figures show nearly 23,000 disabled people have failed to “migrate” from employment and support allowance to universal credit and have had their benefit claims closed, raising concerns over whether many of them have been left destitute. Disabled campaigners warned this […]

King’s speech includes SEND legislation but plans for more disability benefit cuts are dropped… for now

14th May 2026

The government included a bill to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in yesterday’s king’s speech, but it also signalled a delay to any plans for further cuts to disability benefits. The education for all bill follows the publication […]

Senior Labour figure refuses to criticise ministers who misled parliament over Access to Work cut

14th May 2026

The Labour chair of the Commons committee that is supposed to hold the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to account has refused to criticise ministers who misled parliament about a cut to the Access to Work scheme. Disability News Service (DNS) […]

DWP figures ‘show self-employed disabled people have been put to the back of the Access to Work queue’

14th May 2026

Self-employed disabled people are waiting nearly two years for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to even begin working on their Access to Work application if they are seen as a “non-priority” case, new figures have confirmed. The figures, obtained by […]

Government ‘must listen’ to new report which calls for DWP to research importance of Access to Work

14th May 2026

The government should halt its cuts and reforms to Access to Work and commission new research to show exactly how important the scheme is to the disabled people who rely on it to stay working, according to a new report. The report, […]

Government’s advisers fail to act over guidance that proves ‘right to try’ work reforms are ‘worthless’

14th May 2026

The government’s social security advisers have refused to criticise ministers or take any action after official documents proved that “right to try” reforms at the heart of Labour’s “landmark” plans to push more disabled people into employment were “worthless”. Disability News Service […]

Secret DWP report reveals how multiple errors led to claims ‘spiralling out of control’… and claimant deaths

7th May 2026

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) admitted in a secret paper that the cumulative effect of multiple errors or “inaction” on benefit claims caused situations to “spiral out of control for vulnerable customers” and even led to their deaths. DWP admitted […]

New DWP overpayments concerns ‘show something with universal credit has gone catastrophically wrong’

7th May 2026

A new Department for Work and Pensions overpayments scandal could be brewing, after a series of reports that disabled people receiving certain benefits are being overpaid universal credit. Disabled researcher and campaigner Caroline Richardson has been made aware of multiple cases of […]

Labour ministers secretly imposed Access to Work cut last year, DWP update quietly reveals

7th May 2026

The government has secretly imposed a “stealth” real-terms cut to the maximum amount disabled people can receive through the Access to Work disability employment scheme. The cut is most likely to impact disabled people with high communication support needs, particularly Deaf people […]

DWP refuses to release secret report into under-fire Access to Work

7th May 2026

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to release a secret internal report that is likely to expose the flaws and failings at the heart of its under-fire Access to Work disability employment scheme. It is the department’s latest attempt […]

Badenoch’s latest attack on disabled people’s support ‘is nonsense’ and ‘a recipe for hardship’

7th May 2026

Disabled people’s organisations have branded Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s latest proposals to slash spending on disabled people’s support as “nonsense”, “harmful”, and a recipe for hardship and poverty. In their latest assault on social security spending, the Conservatives misleadingly claimed the benefit […]

Government research highlights how DSA support can help disabled students ‘achieve their goals’

7th May 2026

Non-medical support provided through the disabled students’ allowance (DSA) system can play an important role in the ability of young disabled people to succeed at university, according to research commissioned by the government. Non-medical help (NMH) available through DSA offers regular, practical, […]

Labour’s ‘landmark’ rules on ‘right to try’ are ‘worthless’ and ‘empty’, DWP’s own guidance shows

30th April 2026

Government documents prove that the “right to try” reforms at the centre of Labour’s “landmark” plans to push more sick and disabled people into employment are “worthless” and “a disgrace”, disabled critics have concluded. Labour pledged in its 2024 manifesto that it would “give […]

Defeat of ‘dangerous’ assisted suicide bill is just a pause in our fight, say disabled opponents

30th April 2026

Disabled campaigners have warned that pressure to push through legislation to allow assisted suicide is sure to continue, even though the “dangerous” and deeply-flawed terminally ill adults (end of life) bill has run out of parliamentary time. Those supporting the bill in […]

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Image of front cover of The Department, showing a crinkled memo with the words 'Restricted - Policy. The Department. How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence. John Pring.' Next to the image is a red box with the following words in white: 'A very interesting book... a very important contribution to this whole debate' - Sir Stephen Timms, minister for social security and disability. plutobooks.com and the Pluto Press logo.

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Image of front cover of The Department, showing a crinkled memo with the words 'Restricted - Policy. The Department. How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence. John Pring.' Next to the image is a red box with the following words in white: 'A very interesting book... a very important contribution to this whole debate' - Sir Stephen Timms, minister for social security and disability. plutobooks.com and the Pluto Press logo.

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