Launch of human rights toolkit for disabled people
Inclusion Scotland launched their human rights toolkit today at the Scottish Parliament.
The toolkit has been developed in consultation with disabled people from around Scotland. Its key purpose is to provide disabled people and their advocates with the tools they need to realise their human right to live independently. It is available as a free download here.
If anyone has any questions on the toolkit please contact Pauline Nolan: pauline@inclusionscotland.org or telephone 0141 221 7589
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Contact 100 - 'Policy into Practice'
Inclusion Scotland has always been aware that it cannot carry out its aims and objectives effectively without the direct involvement and support of disabled people themselves. With this in mind we have launched a new initiative: Contact 100. Click here for more
Latest News
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
'Victory for rights of disabled' as Government loses spare room benefit case
A charity is hailing a 'tremendous victory' for the rights of disabled people and their children after the Court of Appeal (CoA) today ruled that the size criteria in the housing benefit regulations discriminate against disabled people.
The CoA said the regs were discriminatory, because they do not allow for an additional room to be paid for where a disabled person has a carer, or where...
Monday, 14 May 2012
Scots in social care services should have a right to advocacy
Scots requiring social care services should have a right to be represented by an independent advocate to ensure they have full control of their care, charities have said.
A new law designed to give Scots with disabilities, learning difficulties, mental health problems and dementia more control of their care should also give them the right to independent advocacy, the Scottish Independent...
Friday, 11 May 2012
Matthew Wright investigated over disability slurs in TV poll
Matthew Wright's Channel 5 daytime show is being investigated by Ofcom over a survey that used the words 'mong', 'spaz' and 'retard'.
The Wright Stuff, which holds the dubious honour of airing the item which attracted the most complaints to Ofcom in 2011, is being investigated by the media regulator to see if the poll was a breach of broadcasting rules relating to harm and offence.
Matthew...
Thursday, 10 May 2012
New DWP impact assessment on introduction of personal independence payment
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...
Monday, 7 May 2012
People with MS are lazy, say Scots
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...
Friday, 4 May 2012
Access to Work figures plunge again
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...
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
As sickness benefit cuts take effect, thousands face hard times
Fears those too ill to work will be unable to meet basic living costs as government limits contributory allowance to 365 days.
It all began with a telephone call. Earlier this month, Malcolm Parker, who has not worked since his spine collapsed three years ago, was rung out of the blue by an official from the Department of Work and Pensions. There was only one question: did his wife work...
Monday, 30 April 2012
Welfare reforms put pressure on Scotland’s homeless target
Changes to benefits entitlements as a result of the UK Welfare Reform Act could risk Scotland’s commitment to end unintentional homelessness by the end of this year, MSPs said this week.
Moves such as the so-called bedroom tax mean that debt counselling should be included in support offered to homeless people, according to a report from the Scottish Parliament’s Infrastructure...
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Foodbank handouts double as more families end up on the breadline
Britain's leading foodbank network, the Trussell Trust, says every single day it is handing out emergency food parcels to parents who are going without meals in order to feed their children, or even considering stealing food to put on the table, as the government's austerity measures start to bite.
The number of people to whom it had issued emergency food parcels had doubled in the last...