Category Archives: Disability

UK disability charities say NICs rise will cause ‘life-changing’ cuts

Posted on by

Groups providing vital services say impact of tax and minimum wage rises will lead to cutbacks

Charities have warned of “life-changing consequences” for a million vulnerable children and adults as a result of cuts to state-funded disability services driven by tax changes and wage rises announced in the budget.

The Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG), which represents 100 charities in England, said Rachel Reeves’s decision to raise employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) had been “ill thought through” and would put many local charity services at risk.

Continue reading...

Tanni Grey-Thompson to lead taskforce on air travel for disabled passengers

Posted on by

Team led by Paralympic champion will work with aviation industry to ‘break down barriers’, says transport secretary

The Paralympic champion Tanni Grey-Thompson is to lead a new taskforce created to improve air travel for disabled passengers, the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, has announced.

The taskforce will spend nine months speaking to disabled passengers to establish what are the biggest barriers to air travel, and working with the aviation industry to find short- and long-term solutions.

Continue reading...

Push to count ‘sleepovers’ as breaks could lead to 28-hour shifts for Australian care workers, unions warn

Posted on by

Fair Work Commission to hear case brought by business group asking for change to safety net for care industries

A business push to count “sleepovers” as breaks in care industries could result in “nightmare” 28-hour shifts without penalty rates, unions have warned.

This week the Fair Work Commission will hear a case brought by the Australian Industry Group asking it to change the safety net for care industries to clarify that hours worked before or after a sleepover count as separate shifts.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Special educational needs bill in England hits record £10bn a year

Posted on by

National Audit Office report finds no signs of improvement in lives of pupils despite record spending

The bill for special needs education in England has hit £10bn a year, with the number of children and young people entitled to government support in the form of education, health and care plans set to double to 1 million within a decade, a landmark report has found.

The investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that despite record levels of spending there had been no signs of improvement in the lives of children with special educational needs (SEN).

Continue reading...

Pressure mounts on Rachel Reeves to drop ‘dangerous’ £1.3bn cut to benefits for disabled

Posted on by

Thousands could lose up to £4,900 a year if the plan is retained in the forthcoming budget

Rachel Reeves is coming under intense pressure to use the budget to abandon a £1.3bn cut to benefits for people with disabilities, first announced by the Tory government, amid warnings it will lead to hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable people losing almost £5,000 a year.

The leading independent thinktank, the Resolution Foundation, has called on the chancellor to drop or delay changes to the work capability assessment (WCA), arguing that key aspects of the policy have not been thought through, and that around 420,000 people who are unable to work through disability or ill-health could lose up to £4,900 a year.

Continue reading...

Long-term sick need to get back to work where they can, says Starmer

Posted on by

Labour leader says there should be more support to help people back into jobs, vowing to do ‘everything we can to tackle worklessness’

People who have been on long-term sickness leave and claiming benefits will need get back into the workplace “where they can”, Keir Starmer has said.

The prime minister said he wants more schemes across the country that support people back into work from long-term sickness because he believes in the “basic proposition that you should look for work”.

Continue reading...

More than a million unpaid UK carers living in poverty, research finds

Posted on by

Carers UK estimates 600 people a day quit jobs to care for loved ones and calls for review of benefits system

More than a million unpaid carers in the UK who look after disabled, frail or ill relatives are living in poverty, with one in 10 experiencing such extreme hardship they struggle to afford to eat regularly or heat their homes, new research shows.

Campaigners said carers – routinely lauded by politicians as unsung heroes whose sacrifices help prop up the NHS – were paying the price for “holding society together”, and urged ministers to act to fix “unacceptable” levels of hardship.

Continue reading...

‘Nothing unusual’ about blindness non-profit Vision Australia being led by someone who isn’t blind, chair says

Posted on by

Bill Jolley says he was ‘a bit surprised at the intensity of the reaction’ after ex-chair Graeme Innes launches petition calling for appointment of blind CEO

A non-blind person leading Vision Australia is “nothing unusual”, its chair has said, as the organisation faces criticism for seeking a new chief executive through internal expressions of interest only.

Bill Jolley’s comments come in the wake of a petition launched by Vision Australia’s founding chair, the former disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes, urging the organisation to appoint its first blind chief executive.

Continue reading...

Vision Australia pressed to appoint a blind CEO and open field externally

Posted on by

Founding chair Graeme Innes launches petition and accuses service provider of hypocrisy over recruitment for top job

Vision Australia is under pressure to appoint its first vision-impaired chief executive from the wider community, after the organisation announced it would limit its search to internal expressions of interest.

The national service provider’s founding chair, former disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes, launched a public petition on Monday after he and 33 other representatives of the blind and vision-impaired community wrote to Vision Australia’s board to urge it to prioritise the appointment of a blind chief executive.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Which benefits are available to vulnerable people under Labour?

Posted on by

As the winter fuel allowance is scrapped for many pensioners, we outline some other key benefits

• Millions facing ‘cruel winter’ without fuel payments, Labour MPs warn

Labour backbenchers are warning that millions of vulnerable people will face a “cruel winter” amid rising energy prices and a reduction in benefits, including the removal of winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.

Keir Starmer’s government has promised to improve conditions for those most in need, with a commitment to “reduce and alleviate” child poverty and end the “moral scar” of food banks. And while Labour sees economic growth and creating more reliable and well-paid jobs as crucial to achieving these aims, it cannot ignore a number of pressing and often interrelated problems in the social security and benefits system.

Continue reading...

Neuralink has implanted second trial patient with brain chip, Elon Musk says

Posted on by

Founder says procedure, aimed at helping paralyzed people use digital devices by thinking alone, went ‘extremely well’

Neuralink has successfully implanted in a second patient its device designed to give paralyzed patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking alone, according to the startup’s owner Elon Musk.

Neuralink is in the process of testing its device, which is intended to help people with spinal cord injuries. The device has allowed the first patient to play video games, browse the internet, post on social media and move a cursor on his laptop.

Continue reading...

Challenges to deprivation of liberty orders in England soar by a third

Posted on by

Campaigners say vulnerable people receiving care are being deprived of their freedom in order to save money

Growing numbers of vulnerable people receiving care are challenging deprivation of liberty (Dol) orders that can mean they are locked up or kept under restrictive supervision.

Dol orders are meant as a last resort but campaigners say the increase shows that too often people’s freedoms are restricted as a cheaper option.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Coalition claims Labor education reforms a ‘school funding war’; NZ bushwalker’s body recovered from Tasmania hiking trail

Posted on by

Follow the day’s news live

Murray Watt says advice needed from administrators to determine government support amid administration

Murray Watt, the newly-appointed minister for workplace relations, also weighed in on the Rex Airlines administration on ABC RN just earlier.

In terms of equity stakes or other financial government support, we’ll make those decisions once the situation becomes clearer through the administrator.

This would only be activated if the company is unable to repay entitlements to any workers who are retrenched, and let’s hope it may not get to that.

But also, our department would be providing employment support to workers who do lose their job to ensure that they can get back into work as quickly as possible.

Continue reading...

Unpaid UK carers ‘face financial hit that can last decades’

Posted on by

Loss of income, curbs on benefits and soaring bills are piling pressure on people caring for family members

People who look after family members free of charge are taking a huge hit to their finances which could continue into their retirement as they find themselves unable to balance paid work with their caring commitments.

Recent analysis of official figures by the financial firm Just Retirement found seven in 10 people who were receiving carer’s allowance were not in paid work, and missing out on earnings and private pension contributions.

Continue reading...

Make this the last inaccessible election for blind people in UK, campaigners demand

Posted on by

RNIB calls on all parties to commit to remove barriers that prevent people with sight loss voting on their own

Tens of thousand of people with sight loss will be denied their right to a secret ballot at next week’s general election, campaigners have warned, prompting calls to make it the last inaccessible election.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is calling on all political parties to commit to remove barriers that prevent blind people voting on their own and without help in future elections.

Continue reading...

US social security will no longer deny disability claims based on ability to work outdated jobs

Posted on by

Agency used list which included jobs such as nut sorter and microfilm processor and has not been updated since 1991

The US’s social security administration is no longer considering a number of outdated jobs as possible work opportunities to deny those applying for disability benefits.

Social security disability benefits are determined with a claimant’s medical records and ability to work in mind. If unable to perform their past job, the administration looks at the person’s age, education and work experience to see if they can do other kinds of work.

Continue reading...

US software company Salesforce gave NDIS officials gifts worth more than $100 on 45 occasions

Posted on by

Documents submitted by the company to a parliamentary inquiry also detail meetings between Salesforce and former minister Stuart Robert at his request

US software company Salesforce has disclosed it gave gifts worth more than $100 to NDIS officials at least 45 times between 2019 and 2023, including wining and dining them at ritzy restaurants and bars in Melbourne and Canberra.

The information – submitted by Salesforce to a parliamentary inquiry scrutinising contract arrangements by the NDIS and Services Australia under the former Coalition government – appears at odds with the disability insurance agency’s earlier answers it had no evidence staff had received gifts or benefits from Salesforce.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NI police detective who had paralysing stroke honoured in king’s birthday list

Posted on by

Clodagh Dunlop recognised for work with stroke survivors as others who have overcome adversity also receive MBEs

Unsung heroes who have overcome great adversity to contribute to their communities and raise awareness of important issues make up the majority of those on the king’s birthday honours list.

They include the Police Service of Northern Ireland detective Clodagh Dunlop, 45, who had a brainstem stroke 10 years ago that left her paralysed with locked-in syndrome and only able to communicate by blinking one eye. She receives an MBE for her work with stroke survivors.

Continue reading...

Eurostar reverses wheelchair policy that left user stranded, after Observer campaign

Posted on by

Passengers were left abandoned and humiliated after operator banned staff from providing assistance

Eurostar has reversed a new accessibility policy that left a wheelchair user stranded and has retrained its London staff following pressure from the Observer.

Travellers with disabilities claimed that they would be barred from Eurostar services after the company banned its London staff from pushing passenger wheelchairs. Those who require assistance were told they must travel with a companion or cancel their ticket if they were unable to access services unaided, according to passengers who contacted the Observer.

Continue reading...

Fewer than one in 10 arts workers in UK have working-class roots

Posted on by

The cultural sector falls short on other measures of diversity too, with 9o% of workers white, says new report

Six in 10 of all arts and culture workers in the UK now come from middle-class backgrounds, compared with just over 42% of the wider workforce, according to new research.

And while 23% of the UK workforce is from a working-class background, working-class people are underrepresented in every area of arts and culture. They make up 8.4% of those working in film, TV, radio and photography, while in museums, archives and libraries, the proportion is only 5.2%.

Continue reading...