Disability News Service

1 week ago | disabilitynewsservice.com | John Pring

Cuts and reforms to the Access to Work system pose an “existential threat” and risk “decimating” the disability arts movement in Britain, disabled artists, companies and consultants are warning this week. As pressure grows on the Labour government over its Pathways to Work green paper, a series of leading disabled figures have spoken out to urge ministers to pay attention to the threat to more than 40 years of progress within the disability arts sector.

2 weeks ago | disabilitynewsservice.com | John Pring

Disabled peers have told a committee of MPs that they face a “daily fight” just to be able to do their job, because of their continuing battle against the access barriers within the House of Lords. Members of the Commons modernisation committee heard how disabled peers and civil servants had to confront both physical and attitudinal barriers in their daily work in the Lords.

2 weeks ago | disabilitynewsservice.com | John Pring

Most employers had no contact with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the previous year, according to new DWP research, highlighting the task facing the government as it tries to boost the number of disabled people in work. The results of the DWP Employer Survey 2024 show four-fifths of employers (79 per cent) had not been in contact with DWP in the previous 12 months. Just 11 per cent of employers had received support through the Access to Work (AtW) scheme.

2 weeks ago | disabilitynewsservice.com | John Pring

More than 50 disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) have called on the equality watchdog to investigate the “urgent threat” to the equality and human rights of disabled people posed by the new Labour government. In a letter to the chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, John Kirkpatrick, they say the “disproportionate impact” of the policies taken together breaches the Human Rights Act.

2 weeks ago | disabilitynewsservice.com | John Pring

The Welsh government has been accused of putting up a “smokescreen” after publishing a draft disability rights plan that lacks “teeth” and is full instead of pledges to carry out reviews and produce guidance while offering no new money. The 10-year Draft Disabled People’s Rights Plan aims to improve the rights of disabled people in Wales, but there are no significant promises on key areas such as social care, accessible housing and transport, and disability poverty.