Disabled people say that government plans to remove a key mobility-based disability benefit from residents of care homes will tear away their “last shred of independence”. George Osborne, the chancellor, announced in this month’s spending review that disabled people living in residential homes – unless they fund their own care –will no longer be able [...]

The government has admitted that its new work programme, aimed at providing intensive support for those facing the highest employment barriers, will help far fewer disabled people than it previously suggested. Launching Work Choice this week, the government said the voluntary programme would support 23,000 “severely disabled” people every year. But in a written answer [...]

A national charity that helped develop the idea of personal budgets has raised “serious concerns” about the way they are being introduced by some local authorities. In Control, which helps councils deliver personalised services, said some authorities were restricting how disabled people could spend their personal budgets as a “quick-win way to save money”. In [...]

The National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL) has taken a large step towards a merger with two other leading disability organisations, after members were warned it was unlikely to survive on its own. Despite several concerns raised by disabled activists at NCIL’s annual general meeting (agm) in London, none of its member organisations voted against [...]

Hospitals could be breaching the human rights of mental health patients by keeping wards permanently locked and imposing blanket bans on mobile phones and internet access, according to a report by the care watchdog. The concerns were raised in the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) first annual report on the use of the Mental Health Act [...]