Hello and apologies for missing last week’s news. Very sadly my father in law died unexpectedly and as you can imagine we’ve been very preoccupied getting everything sorted out. He was 88 and had become severely disabled during the last four years of his life eventually needing residential care, as his wife was unable to cope physically. Thankfully they were able fund the package of care that he needed but even so we often felt very guilty about not being able to provide him with more. As the government contemplates severe financial cuts I can’t help wondering how others with less financial support will cope. The most frail and vulnerable in our society should expect the rest of us to do everything we can to care for them in their final years. We need to ensure that they and their families receive all the support they so richly deserve. New centre for independent living leads to loss of two DPOs Two disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) in Northamptonshire have been forced to close af...

Concerns over first government work test figures The first official figures showing how the government’s work capability assessment (WCA) is working have revealed only a small proportion of those applying for out-of-work disability benefits are “passing” the strict new test. Of about 175,000 people whose claims were completed between October 2008 and February this year, only about 32,000 –18 per cent – were placed on the new employment and support allowance (ESA). Of the 32,000, just under a third were placed in the support group, for those who do not have to engage in work-related activity. But about 69,000 of the claimants were pronounced “fit for work” and ineligible for ESA, while 74,000 stopped claiming before their assessment was finished. The assessments – carried out by the government contractor ATOS Healthcare – are supposed to test whether someone requires personalised support to find work and so qualifies for ESA, which has replaced incapacity benefit (IB) for new claimants....