'Considerable variations' in disabled children's care
Disabled children and their families sometimes wait for up to a year for aids such as wheelchairs, a social care watchdog review has found.
Receiving disability aids for children a 'challenge'
The Care Quality Commission have published a report today revealing that disabled children could wait up to a year to receive aids.
1700 Remploy redundancies risk
Over a thousand disabled people are to lose their jobs in a government decision to stop funding Remploy factories.
Live updates
Alf Morris, champion of disability rights, has died
The man who fought to give people with disabilities more rights has died. Alf Morris passed away after a short illness on Sunday. Labour's Leader in the House of Lords, Janet Royall, said:
Very sad to learn that Alf Morris died on Sunday after a short illness. He transformed the lives of disabled people in the world
From @LabourRoyall on Twitter:Alf Morris's Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act was the first o give rights to people with disabilities. He as a fantastic campaigner
From @LabourRoyall on Twitter:The London Paralympics is in many ways a legacy of Alf Morris's visionary Act which gave disabled people rights
From @LabourRoyall on Twitter:TUC: Disabled people 'most affected' by Government cuts
The Government will be accused of being "fundamentally dishonest" about its policies towards disabled people today.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber will tell a conference that disabled workers are being hit more than other groups by the coalition's austerity cuts.
He will tell the TUC's Disabled Workers Conference: "No group of people is more affected by the Government's savage, ideological austerity than disabled workers. It's no exaggeration to say that when it comes to disability, there is a fundamental dishonesty about Government policy."
Advertisement
Drivers with disabilities angry as council charges for parking
Drivers with disabilities say they're angry at a council's decision to charge them for parking.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is imposing the charges from August. Blue disabled badge holders will be charged a normal parking fee on top of the £10 it costs for the annual blue badge.
500,000 could lose disability benefits
Government plans could mean up to 500,000 people lose their disability benefits. The Work and Pensions Secretary Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, wants introduce radical reforms to slash the annual cost by £2.24 billion.
Under the reforms:
- Disability living allowance would be replaced by the personal independence payment
- Two million claimants would be reassessed in the next four years
- People without limbs may no longer be entitled to benefits as their mobility is not undermined by prosthetic limbs
Labour: Coalition have cut £1 billion from older people's care
Labour spokesperson for care and older people Liz Kendall MP has said the crisis in care for older people has been made worse by the Coalition budget cuts.
Labour: Government not grasping the urgency of care crisis
Labour spokesperson for care and older people Liz Kendell has accused the government of being "completely out of touch with the scale or urgency of the crisis in care." She said:
– Liz KendellThey refuse to acknowledge that their cuts have pushed a system that was already under pressure close to breaking point, and they have repeatedly delayed their White Paper on social care.
Labour is determined to play our part in trying to get cross-party agreement on the changes older and disabled people and their families desperately need.
We want legislation on long-term care funding in this Parliament, rather than simply producing a 'progress report', which is the Government's current plan.
Advertisement
'Social care needs reform'
A Department of Health spokesman said:
We absolutely agree that the social care system is in need of reform.
We have worked with people, including care providers and charities, to see what changes they want made in care and support.
Their feedback - more than 600 formal responses - has shaped the forthcoming White Paper. This will make sure we create a sustainable system that will mean people and their carers get the quality of care they want.
Charities call on Cameron over social care
A group of 78 charities and campaign groups have told the Prime Minister in an open letter to the Daily Mail that a postcode lottery of access to care is leaving many elderly people in "quiet desperation".
Ahead of this weeks Queen's speech the charities have urged Mr Cameron to make social care reform his "personal mission" and said there was widespread support "across society and the political spectrum".
Growing pressure on unpaid carers
Thousands of unpaid carers are suffering health and career problems because of the pressure to look after sick or disabled family members without help. The report for Carers Trust found it's caused depression, anxiety and nervous breakdowns in six out of ten carers. Gregg Easteal reports.
Charity calls for more help for unpaid carers
Dr Moira Fraser from the Carers Trust says if carers get the support they need they'll be able to care for longer and that leads to a better result all round.
Today's top stories
