Liberal Democrat
Disability Association

News

Department for Work and Pensions Recruits Staff To Reduce ESA And PIP Appeal Success Rates

Legal Aid funding became unavailable for welfare cases at First Tier tribunal in April 2013, because of the Conservative-led Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). This included Legal Aid for appealing all benefit decisions. Legal Aid at Second Tier tribunal may be available if the case is about a point of law. Political lip service was paid to the legal human rights implications regarding the violation to the right to a fair trial (Article 6 of the ECHR), equal access to justice , and the Act provided that funding may be granted on a case-by-case basis where the failure to provide legal aid would be a breach of the individual's rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) or the rights of the individual to the provision of legal services that are enforceable European Union rights.

8 Apr 2016
View

Lords says Govt failing duty of care to disabled people

The Equality Act 2010: the impact on disabled people. The House of Lords Select Committee on the Equality Act 2010 and Disability investigating the Act's impact on disabled people has concluded that the Government is failing in its duty of care to disabled people. Read more Disability Rights UK CEO Liz Sayce said, in the Guardian: "20 years ago, after many years of campaigning, the Disability Discrimination Act was born, giving new rights and new hope to disabled people. "Many of those rights remain dormant because of inaction by government. If disabled people were given the support and opportunities they should be, they would be more economically active and at less risk of poor health and isolation." Key findings and recommendations in the report: Government should bring into force immediately provisions in the Act obliging taxi drivers to take passengers with wheelchairs. All new rail infrastructure must build into its design step-free access. Ministers must report on the progress made on all sports stadia,

7 Apr 2016
View

What I Want People Who Touch My Wheelchair Without Permission to Know

For over a year now, my condition has meant that I've started to use a wheelchair more frequently, and this has definitely taught me a lot about the people around me and strangers in the street. Sometimes it's difficult to self-propel myself in my chair, and I'll ask family members to help me. This is totally OK. However, what isn't OK is people just randomly starting to push me. This goes for family members and strangers.

6 Apr 2016
View

Dyspraxia and sense of belonging

From a very young age I've always been very aware of how different I was to those around me, in height, socially and by my body worked. When I was four I was diagnosed dyspraxic. My mum always tells me even though I found day to day day tasks (and still do) a challenge I always had a go and always been really determined. Around that age I decided to give ballet a try, grace, co-ordination and balance has never been something I've been good at (you know it's me coming up and down the stairs by how heavy footed I am.) But nevertheless I gave it a try, but it was then my mum was approached by the ballet teacher and told "was there something wrong with me? Why was I backwards?" It was from that young age my family were aware of the struggle of getting others to understand such a misunderstood hidden difficulty.

5 Apr 2016
View

This website uses cookies

Like most websites, this site uses cookies. Some are required to make it work, while others are used for statistical or marketing purposes. If you choose not to allow cookies some features may not be available, such as content from other websites. Please read our Cookie Policy for more information.

Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the website to function properly.
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.
Marketing cookies are used by third parties or publishers to display personalized advertisements. They do this by tracking visitors across websites.