http://www.update.org.uk/news.php Latest news from Update Scotland - Scotland's National Disability Information Service Blot Design CMS http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=248 The government’s own benefits advice body has called for financial compensation to help those disabled people set to lose out from the government’s reforms and cuts to spending on disability living allowance (DLA). The social security advisory committee (SSAC) said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should ensure some “transitional protection” for those with lower support needs, in order to avoid “tough cases”. The committee was responding to a consultation on the government’s proposed assessment criteria ....... http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=248 Sat, 16 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=242 Disability living allowance (DLA) reform will cost £710m but will reduce benefit expenditure by £2.24bn, according to the DWP. In a new impact assessment, 'Disability Living Allowance Reform', the DWP says that the policy objectives for the replacement of DLA by the personal independence payment (PIP), from April 2013 onwards, are - to create a new, more active and enabling benefit that focuses support on those disabled people who face the greatest barriers to leading full, active ....... http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=242 Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=243 A report has found an alarming attitude to disabled people in Scotland. Findings from a survey by the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society Scotland discovered more than a quarter of Scots feel disabled people exaggerate the extent of their physical limitations. A separate poll of people with MS in Scotland found 40 per cent feel the public don’t consider them equal as a result of their condition. And almost half of people with MS said their symptoms have been ....... http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=243 Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=247 An increasing number of adult health and social care services are being provided through joined up working, so that people can get more care at home. Patients and members of the public are now being asked for their views on plans for them to receive more treatment closer to home as a consultation on the integration of health and social care launches today. More health staff are set to work in the community as the shift in ....... http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=247 Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=245 The voluntary sector and independent providers of care should have a greater role in delivering integrated health and social care, according to a report published by the Health and Sport Committee. The report was the result of an inquiry into the proposed creation of health and social care partnerships, designed to bridge the gap between the NHS and local authority services. Committee Convener Duncan McNeil MSP said: “The Committee welcomes many aspects of the Scottish Government’s plans. We ....... http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=245 Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=246 Hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers in Scotland are suffering from mental health problems and struggling to keep their jobs, a new poll has revealed.Six in ten carers have suffered a mental health illness – such as depression, anxiety or stress – and the same number say their jobs have been adversely affected. A poll by the Princess Royal Trust for Carers also highlights how 27 per cent of carers say both their mental and physical ....... http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=246 Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=232 Tens of thousands of disabled people have lost all of their out-of-work disability benefits this week, thanks to new rules brought in by the government through its controversial Welfare Reform Act. The act introduced a new one-year time limit on claiming the contributory form of employment and support allowance (ESA) for those disabled people expected to move gradually towards work. The new time limit was introduced retrospectively, which meant that claimants began to have their ESA removed ....... http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=232 Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=234 Disabled activists who want to give evidence about newspapers that have stirred up hostility towards claimants of disability benefits appear to have been sidelined by the Leveson inquiry into press standards. Disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) – including Inclusion London, the UK Disabled People’s Council and the Disability Hate Crime Network (DHCN) – told Disability News Service (DNS) last November that they wanted to give evidence to the inquiry, set up in the wake of the News ....... http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=234 Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=226 New figures show the number of disabled people granted funds to make their workplaces more accessible has fallen sharply again. The number of “new customers helped” through the Access to Work (AtW) scheme has been falling steadily since the general election in 2010, apart from a small rise in the second quarter of 2011-12. But the latest figures appear to show that that increase was just a blip, with the number of new customers helped falling from ....... http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=226 Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=227 Concerns have been raised about how members of the public are being chosen to take part in the Paralympic torch relay – a major event in the lead-up to this summer’s London 2012 games. LOCOG, London 2012’s organising committee, is preparing to announce the nominees who have been chosen to carry the Paralympic torch from Stoke Mandeville to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, over 24 hours from 28 to 29 August. In all, 580 disabled ....... http://www.update.org.uk/news-detail.php?id=227 Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT