Tag Archives: disability

UK is breaching human rights of disabled, UN told

A SCOTTISH campaigner will this morning tell the Human Rights Council of the UN that the UK Government is in breach of its human rights obligations to disabled people.

Stephen Naysmith
Social affairs correspondent

In Geneva today, Dr Pauline Nolan, Policy Officer for Inclusion Scotland, will submit evidence to a preliminary hearing ahead of a planned review of the human rights record of 14 states, including the UK.

On behalf of the Campaign for A Fair Society – a coalition of more than 70 Scottish charities – Dr Nolan will warn the cumulative impact of welfare reform and cuts to benefits affecting disabled people will mean their ability to live a full life is impaired. In particular, she will argue that welfare changes undermine their right to be included in the community.

The campaign also claims disabled people are being denied access to justice when they try to appeal against these cuts to their benefits.

Westminster council underspends adult care budget by £4.4m

Westminster has reduced home care hours for disabled residents.

Westminster city council has underspent its adult social care budget by £4.4m so far this financial year, according to a report on the council’s financial performance. The figure is part of a total underspend of £10.4m, which also includes a £0.8m underspend on children‘s services and £2.3m on housing.

Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour group on Westminster council, told the Guardian’s social care network that the “significant underspend” was a result of the Conservative-controlled council introducing cuts, which should have been phased in over two years, more quickly.

Paralympian Baroness Grey-Thompson suffers online abuse over train trouble

Baroness Grey-Thompson says she has attracted a stream of anti-disability abuse after she spoke of having to crawl off a train in London.

 

A newspaper website reporting the story prompted a large number of offensive comments about the peer’s disability.

“There’s a lot of disabled people who wouldn’t be able to deal with it the way I’m able to,” she said.