Rights On Flights
DR UK, Disabled TV presenter Sophie Morgan and MP Marion Fellows have launched a new campaign demanding that the Government grant the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) the power to fine airlines and other actors if they fail to look after Disabled passengers and their equipment.
Read more on Rights on Flights on the DR UK website or access the Rights On Flights campaign page and take action.
Over 460% rise in PIP claims stopped due to failure to return review form
New figures released by Tom Pursglove, the Minister for Disabled People, show that in 2017, 7,500 claims for personal independence payment (PIP) were “disallowed” because the claimant failed to return the AR1 award review form.
But by 2021, this had risen to 42,100, an increase of 461%. Read more on PIP figures on the DR UK website.
DR UK joins public call for Michael Gove to freeze rents
School absenteeism seen as a ‘national crisis’
A Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter, Lee Elliot Major, told the Commons Education Committee that there is a “national persistent truancy crisis” in England, with significantly more children now missing lessons than before the pandemic. Read more on absenteeism on the DR UK website.
The Covid Inquiry
The Covid Inquiry has finally started undertaking its preliminary hearings. Six out of ten people who died of Covid were Disabled. Read more on the Covid Inquiry on the DR UK website.
1.6 million children live in mouldy and damp homes
A new analysis by Citizens Advice indicates that more than half of private renters in England (2.7m households) are currently struggling with dampness, mould, excessive cold or a combination of these factors.
You can learn more about their research into cold homes on the DR UK website.
PPM ban temporary as Ofgem prepares report on energy suppliers
According to the regulator Ofgem, the recent ban on the forced installation of prepayment meters in the homes of financially vulnerable people is only in place until 31 March.
Read the full prepayment meter story on our website.
The cost-of-living crisis impacts access to prescription medicines says RPS
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has surveyed community pharmacists on prescription charges and their effects in the current cost of living crisis. DR UK’s Dan White said: “The list of things that Disabled and financially vulnerable people cannot afford goes on and on.”
Read more on prescriptions on our website.
DR UK joins Martin Lewis’ campaign to postpone April’s increase in the energy price guarantee
DR UK has joined forces with Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis to write to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, calling on him to postpone this April’s planned rise in the energy price guarantee which is set to send bills soaring by 40%.
Read more about the letter to the Chancellor on the DR UK website.
DfT appoints new Disabled transport committee Chair
The Department for Transport (DfT) has appointed a new Chair of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) to represent the needs and rights of Disabled people across the UK’s transport network.
Read more about the DPTAC appointment on our website.
Government announce Minimum Income Guarantee rise
The Government has confirmed that the Minimum Income Guarantee will increase with inflation. Steep rises in care charges, taken from benefit payments, have left thousands of Disabled people drawing on social care without enough money to live on, even with the protection of the Minimum Income Guarantee.
Read more on the Minimum Income Guarantee on the DR UK website.
DWP failings linked to death of claimant whose body lay undiscovered for years
The body of a Disabled woman lay undiscovered in her flat for more than three years after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) cut off her disability benefits, Disability News Service (DNS) reports.
Laura Winham’s body was not found until May 2021, more than three-and-a-half years after she was last seen alive.
Read more about Laura’s story on our website.
DR UK in the Mirror
Read Anna Morell’s recent Dis Life columns in the Mirror on the energy crisis, benefit deaths, ableism in the movies, accessible play equipment, neurodiversity, the Covid Inquiry and disability-friendly films, books and TV.
