The social care budget needs protecting just as NHS spending has been, campaigners say. Age UK has warned that if the expected cuts to councils are made, just half the 1m people needing help at home in England will be getting it by 2012. The charity said social care should be put on the same footing as health, which will not see a funding drop.
It could be more difficult in future to bring a disability discrimination claim on mental health grounds, following an Employment Tribunal decision. The tribunal suggested that a claimant could be required to provide evidence from a consultant psychiatrist to prove a diagnosis of stress or depression. Previously, the threshold of proof had been lowered to make claiming easier.
Aberdeenshire MSP, Alison McInnes, will visit the VSA Carers' Centre in Peterhead to show her support to unpaid carers and young carers during this year's Carers' Week. The visit will start at Peterhead Health Centre at 2pm with the unveiling of the "Life of my Own" montage which has been produced locally, followed by afternoon tea and an informal chat to carers at the centre.
The UK's equality watchdog has announced an inquiry into whether public bodies are doing enough to stop disability hate crime. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) wants people in England, Scotland and Wales to report their experiences of such crime.
Blind charities have welcomed the conviction of a taxi driver who refused to take a passenger with a guide dog.
Britain's welfare system is "trapping" poor people in poverty, the work and pensions secretary said as he unveiled plans for far-reaching reforms. Iain Duncan Smith wants to ensure benefit claimants are not made worse off by working and make state support conditional on willingness to work. He said the current benefits system was "broken" and unaffordable.
