Contents
DWP and Treasury silent over mystery of £2 billion cuts to disability benefits 1
‘Unacceptable’ new figures show rejections of Access to Work claims have shot up this year 3
Watchdog’s silence after removing figures that showed social security spending is not ‘spiralling’ 5
Manifesto calls on next Welsh government to enable disabled people to ‘flourish and thrive’ 7
Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week 14
DWP and Treasury silent over mystery of £2 billion cuts to disability benefits
The government has refused to explain the impact that last week’s budget will have on disabled people who receive benefits, despite repeated requests for clarity over cuts of up to £580 million a year.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Treasury have both failed to provide any details of the cuts to spending on disability benefits of nearly £2 billion over five years.
It is just DWP’s latest failure of transparency since Labour’s new minister for social security and disability, Sir Stephen Timms, promised to improve its openness to public scrutiny in September 2024.
Treasury documents published on the day of last week’s budget showed that, from next April, the government will increase DWP’s “capacity” to carry out reassessments of disabled people’s capacity for work through the work capability assessment (WCA).
DWP will also carry out more face-to-face assessments, which have been drastically cut back since the early weeks of the pandemic, both through WCAs and assessments of eligibility for personal independence payment (PIP).
The Treasury’s budget costings document also said DWP would be “changing the frequency” of reviews of PIP awards, which would allow it to “complete award reviews on time, reducing the number of people who are called to a PIP assessment when their function has not changed, and allowing providers to redirect resource to WCA re-assessments”.
The budget document described this measure as “extending Personal Independence Payment award reviews periods”.
The budget costings document said these changes will “ensure people receive the right health or disability benefit and the system is sustainable”.
But there are significant question-marks over these measures, because the changes together are set to save the government £85 million next year, £310 million in 2027-28, £520 million in 2028-29, £580 million in 2029-30 and £455 million in 2030-31, a total of £1.95 billion over five years.
Disability News Service (DNS) has been asking the Treasury and DWP to clarify how these cuts will be made for more than a week.
The Treasury initially claimed that the budget documents were not announcing new policies, but were “just costing existing plans from planned welfare reforms – so nothing new from this”.
But neither department has been able to point to where or when these “existing plans” were announced by DWP, particularly the changes in reviews of PIP awards, and how these changes will affect PIP recipients and those on out-of-work disability benefits.
Although the government has previously made it clear that it wanted to increase reassessments through the WCA, and to increase the number of face-to-face WCAs and PIP assessments, these ideas were included in March’s green paper.
Green papers are supposed to lay out policy proposals for consultation, but they are not announcements of final decisions on government policy.
DNS has been unable to find any DWP announcements on these and the other measures in last week’s budget documents since the spring budget on 26 March 2025, other than a brief reference to carrying out more PIP face-to-face assessments in a speech by the then work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall in May.
Both DWP and the Treasury have refused to provide clarity on the budget changes, with DWP instead releasing a statement that failed to explain what measures it was taking on PIP award reviews*.
It is the latest in a string of DWP failures on transparency since Labour came to power, continuing years of similar failings under successive Conservative-led governments.
At Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, in September 2024, Sir Stephen told DNS: “The department has absurdly refused to answer lots of the questions that you have asked and that is something that we want to change… because public scrutiny is a good thing, and it puts pressure on ministers and on civil servants to have the consequences of what they are doing known about publicly.”
Meanwhile, DWP’s controversial new anti-fraud bill – now to be known as the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error, and Recovery) Act – has become law after receiving royal assent on Tuesday.
Last month, cross-party MPs warned that ministers’ refusal to introduce a key protection into the bill could see a repeat of the countless deaths caused by the austerity measures of past governments.
And they warned that future “authoritarian” governments could misuse the powers the Labour government has claimed through the bill, which applies to England, Scotland and Wales.
One of those powers will allow DWP to force banks to examine the accounts of claimants of means-tested benefits and then provide details of any accounts where there have been potential breaches of benefit eligibility rules.
Disability Rights UK said it was “deeply concerned” at the “bank spying bill” becoming law.
It said on X/Twitter: “A government agency that is notorious for punitive sanctions and bureaucratic faults that have cost lives, this will have dire consequences.”
*The statement is included here as a footnote, as it failed to answer the questions put to the department by DNS: “We are increasing the number of face-to-face assessments and tackling the backlog of Work Capability Assessments we inherited, by changing the frequency of PIP assessment reviews. This will ensure claimants receive the right level of support while at the same time reducing unnecessary award reviews, as we shift our focus from welfare to work, skills and opportunities.”
4 December 2025
‘Unacceptable’ new figures show rejections of Access to Work claims have shot up this year
Ministers have been forced to admit that the proportion of Access to Work claims they are rejecting has leapt by more than a fifth this year, with disabled campaigners describing the figures as “unacceptable” and “clearly worrying”.
The figures, provided through a response to a written parliamentary question, show the proportion of applications rejected has risen by more than 22 per cent in 2025-26 so far, compared with 2024-25.
This follows a rise of more than 12 per cent in 2024-25, Labour’s first year in control of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)*.
It is the strongest evidence yet to support concerns being raised by disabled campaigners, who have been warning for months that Access to Work (AtW) support is being cut.
The figures came just days after Disability News Service (DNS) reported that DWP was claiming that “an issue” with data was preventing it releasing detailed monthly figures on AtW claims.
The new figures were released by Sir Stephen Timms, the minister for social security and disability, in response to a question from Labour’s former shadow minister for disabled people, Vicky Foxcroft.
Rather than requesting more detailed monthly data, as DNS had done, she had asked for the number and proportion of AtW claims that had been closed in each year since 2022-23.
In 2022-23, Sir Stephen told her, 31,482 applications were not approved, which was 30 per cent of all decisions.
The proportion of applications rejected fell to 24 per cent in 2023-24, the last full year of the Conservative government, but then last year under the new Labour government – which claims it is trying to increase the number of disabled people in work – it rose to 27 per cent of all applications being rejected (a 12.5 per cent increase).
And so far this year (April to October), the proportion of claims rejected has increased even more sharply, with 27,297 applications not approved, one in three (33 per cent) of all decisions, a rise of more than 22 per cent (six percentage points) on 2024-25.
Although he provided these figures, Sir Stephen failed to provide Foxcroft with data showing the frequency of reasons for rejections (which include “no contact from the applicant”, “insufficient evidence provided”, “applicant not eligible” and “application not pursued”.
Disabled consultant, broadcaster and campaigner Shani Dhanda, co-founder of the Access to Work Collective, said the increase in claims being rejected was “unacceptable”.
But she also called again for clarity from ministers on exactly what was happening within the AtW system.
She told DNS: “We still have no idea where people are being lost in the system, and the vague reasons given tell us nothing about what actually went wrong.
“What we see on the ground is chaos: phone calls going unanswered, people cut off mid-call, evidence repeatedly misplaced, and applicants waiting so long for approvals, change of circumstances or renewals, that work opportunities disappear.
“The fact that non-approvals have jumped to 33 per cent, the highest in recent years, while transparency has been stripped back, is unacceptable.
“Access to Work is meant to support disabled workers, not shut them out.”
David Buxton, chief executive of the disabled people’s organisation Action on Disability, which in October produced evidence showing the average AtW support hours of disabled people it had been working with had plunged from 22.5 to just four in two-and-a-half years, said the new figures were “clearly worrying”.
And he criticised the department for the lack of transparency over what was driving the increased rejections.
He said: “Without clear data, we are all being left to guess, but what’s absolutely clear is that disabled people need a system that works.
“We must push for workable, sustainable and effective solutions that genuinely support people to stay in work.”
He added: “The numbers point to a system that is struggling to meet disabled people’s needs.
“When more than 100,000 applications over recent years have not been approved, and when a third of decisions this year are non-approvals, that has a very real impact on people’s ability to stay in work or take up new roles.”
Catherine Eadie, a social enterprise founder and Access to Work claimant, and a member of the Access to Work Collective, added: “For those of us dealing with Access to Work daily, these figures match what we see: procedural errors, misinterpretation of guidance, misplaced evidence, and delays so long that people’s jobs and businesses become unviable while they wait.
“When approval rates drop this sharply and explanations get vaguer, trust is impossible.”
Foxcroft told DNS: “I encourage ministerial colleagues to investigate this concerning increase in the number of cases being rejected by the DWP and ensure that it feeds into their wider work on reform of the current programme.”
She said: “It has long been clear that Access to Work is not fit for purpose.
“I am pleased that ministers have acknowledged this and begun to take action through the Pathways to Work green paper.
“These statistics show, however, that there is still a long way to go towards removing the workplace barriers disabled people face every day.”
DWP is expected to announce its proposals for AtW reform in the next few weeks.
*It took control in July 2024, so the first three months of 2024-25 were under Conservative control
4 December 2025
Watchdog’s silence after removing figures that showed social security spending is not ‘spiralling’
The government’s “independent” spending watchdog has refused to explain why it removed figures from its crucial budget forecast report that proved spending on social security is not spiralling out of control.
The move by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will help the government – and commentators – justify expected future cuts to spending, such as to personal independence payment and out-of-work disability benefits.
This week, the Sunday Times reported that the government was set to push ahead with plans, first proposed in March’s Pathways to Work green paper, to prevent disabled young people under the age of 22 from receiving the health element of universal credit.
And in a speech in London on Monday, the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, said that the social security system had “trapped people in poverty”, particularly young disabled people.
Her said young disabled people were being “simply written off” and trapped “in a cycle of worklessness and dependency for decades” which “costs the country money” and was “bad for our productivity”.
Disability News Service and academics, other journalists and disabled activists have been using the OBR figures since early this year to dismantle claims that “welfare spending” is increasing at an unmanageable rate.
But these crucial figures have been omitted from OBR’s latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook report, which was published last week alongside the budget.
The figures were first highlighted by a disabled activist in February, after they were included in the OBR’s October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
The October 2024 figures showed that the share of GDP* taken by social security spending was stable, and was even predicted to fall from 11.1 per cent to 11.0 per cent in 2027-28 and 2028-29, before rising slightly back to 11.1 per cent in 2029-30.
Updated figures were included in an OBR report in March this year**, and they showed that social security spending was predicted to be even lower – as a proportion of GDP – than previously predicted.
The figures were included in one of the charts released alongside the Economic and Fiscal Outlook report, which is published alongside every budget.
That chart (chart 5.2) tracked “welfare spending” as a proportion of GDP for every year back to 2010-11, when it was 12 per cent of GDP.
But last week’s version of chart 5.2 was substantially different.
Instead of showing how spending has changed year by year since 2010-11 as a proportion of GDP, table 5.2 now shows how the proportion of government spending in different areas has changed relative to 2010-11 levels, making it impossible to compare social security spending levels year-by-year and prove that it has not “spiralled”.
What last week’s OBR report does show (see table 5.1 in the main report) is that the chancellor’s spending decisions – including scrapping the two-child benefit cap – have not led to an increase in the proportion of GDP being spent on social security, compared with previous predictions.
The figures show that welfare spending for 2024-25 was significantly lower than predicted last year (10.8 per cent compared with a predicted 11.1 per cent) as a proportion of GDP, while the predicted spending for this year is also lower than was forecast by the OBR last year (10.9 per cent versus 11.1 per cent), while the forecast levels for the next four years have remained unchanged.
These figures show that any attempt by media, civil servants and politicians – such as chancellor Rachel Reeves last year, DWP in January, and opposition MPs such as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch in September – to make false claims that social security spending is spiralling out of control would be misleading, if not deeply dishonest.
This week, OBR’s press office refused three times to even acknowledge emails asking why it had removed the historic figures from the report.
The Treasury had also not commented by noon today (Thursday) on whether it requested OBR to remove the historic welfare spending figures.
OBR’s refusal to comment came in a week that its chair, Richard Hughes, resigned after the watchdog mistakenly published its outlook report before Reeves had delivered her budget speech to MPs.
*Gross domestic product, the size of the country’s economy in a particular year
**Chapter five of OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook – March 2025, chart 5.2, shows welfare spending as a percentage of GDP: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2025/
4 December 2025
Manifesto calls on next Welsh government to enable disabled people to ‘flourish and thrive’
The national body for disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) in Wales has issued five major demands to political parties ahead of next spring’s elections to the Welsh Senedd.
The Disabled People’s Manifesto, published by Disability Wales, includes a call for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) to be incorporated into Welsh law.
It also demands a “robust” disabled people’s rights plan – which should include the appointment of a minister for disabled people – ahead of the current Welsh government’s 10-year plan, which is likely to be published this month.
And it calls for Welsh politicians to champion disabled people’s leadership – supporting disabled leaders in public life, and ensuring they are represented in decision-making and policy development – and for government to fund the work of DPOs.
The manifesto demands a guaranteed right to independent living, with reforms to social care, health and housing that focus on dignity, choice, and accessibility, and for the new government to promote inclusion, and end the institutionalisation of disabled people.
And it calls for the social security system to be devolved from the UK to the Welsh government, as has been – partially – achieved in Scotland.
The manifesto, From Barely Surviving to Truly Thriving, has been developed with DPOs from across Wales and individual disabled people.
In all, more than 250 disabled people helped shape the manifesto, which outlines demands from politicians over the four years from the May 2026 elections.
Although the Welsh Labour government included a pledge to incorporate UNCRPD into Welsh law in its programme for government in 2021, Disability Wales says no progress has been made towards this goal, and so the convention remains “a guiding framework rather than a legally enforceable standard”.
A draft version of the Welsh government’s Disabled People’s Rights Plan, when it was published in May, saw the government accused of putting up a “smokescreen” with a document that lacked “teeth” and was full of pledges to carry out reviews and produce guidance while offering no new money.
The 61-page plan included no significant promises on key areas such as social care, accessible housing and transport, and disability poverty, and was short of concrete targets.
Disability Wales says in its manifesto that the draft plan “must be strengthened to ensure long-term impact and accountability”, while there must be “sustained investment and infrastructure” for DPOs so they can be “essential partners” in delivering the plan.
Disability Wales also says in its manifesto that disabled people “remain underrepresented in political and public life”.
It calls for all political parties to publish the percentage of their representatives who identify as disabled people and their targets for improving these figures in the run-up to the 2026 Senedd and 2027 local government elections.
The manifesto says that barriers to independent living “strip away autonomy and keep people trapped in unsuitable housing, inflexible care arrangements and discriminatory environments”, and it calls instead for accessible housing, inclusive health services, and an end to institutional care.
It also calls for a national campaign to tackle the “ableism, stigma, and discrimination” faced by disabled people.
Devolving social security systems to Wales would enable “more responsive, fair, and inclusive support systems, designed in coproduction with disabled people and DPOs”, the manifesto says.
It concludes: “Disabled people in Wales deserve more than mere survival.
“We deserve the right to truly flourish and thrive.
“We know that change is possible, but it requires commitment, collaboration and courage.
“We call on all political parties to adopt these five calls and work with us to build a Wales where disabled people are not just supported but celebrated.”
Disability Wales has also launched a “commitment form”, asking every political party and candidate to state clearly and publicly where they stand on each of the manifesto’s five calls.
Their responses will be updated during the Senedd election campaign and used afterwards to monitor delivery and implementation of the policy demands.
Rhian Davies, chief executive of Disability Wales (DW), said: “DW’s vision is for an inclusive, equitable and barrier free society.
“Disabled people in Wales deserve more than mere survival; we deserve the right to truly flourish and thrive.
“Following the recent module two Covid-19 Inquiry report, which criticised government failure to appreciate the level of risk faced by disabled people, resulting in escalating death rates and a reversal of rights, this manifesto is a call to action for all political parties to commit to real change.
“Together, we can move from surviving to thriving.”
Natalie Jarvis, DW’s policy and research officer, said: “As someone involved in the co-production of this manifesto alongside DPOs and the voices of hundreds of disabled people across Wales, I have heard stories of exhaustion, frustration and injustice but also of hope, resilience and vision.
“Disabled people know exactly what needs to change.
“What we need now is the political will to act and for parties to commit to our calls within their own manifestos ahead of the elections.”
4 December 2025
Deaf people who use BSL face ‘entrenched’ health and social care exclusion, say government advisers
Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL) face “entrenched” and “systemic” exclusion from health and social care services across Britain, according to a new report by government advisers.
The report* found that Deaf and Deafblind people’s lack of access to services costs the Treasury millions of pounds through “unmet needs, wasted appointments and delays in care”.
Better access to health and social care services would allow more Deaf and Deafblind people to find work and progress in their careers, and contribute more through taxation, says the report.
The report focuses on the experiences of Deaf and Deafblind BSL-users in England, Scotland and Wales, and is based on a review of their access to services carried out by the government’s BSL Advisory Board’s health and social care sub-group.
The report found a “deep-rooted lack of trust” within Deaf and Deafblind communities following repeated experiences of exclusion from services, which often left them “traumatised” by a lack of access to health and social care.
One Deaf woman spent five months sleeping in an accident and emergency cubicle because there was no bed available in mental health services that had BSL support.
Repeated access failures and exclusions often cause “accumulated trauma” over a person’s lifetime, says the report.
BSL users usually need “high levels of motivation, perseverance with inaccessible systems and patience with the inexperience of professionals trying to meet their needs” if they want to access services, the report found.
Many BSL-users avoid social care and health services completely due to their past experiences because they believe their communication needs will not be met.
There are believed to be about 87,000 Deaf BSL-users in the UK, and 25,000 people who use BSL as their main language.
The report makes a string of recommendations to the UK and devolved governments, including calls to establish national, 24/7 video relay services for England and Wales; set up national BSL complaints services within England, Scotland and Wales; provide mandatory deaf, deafblind and BSL awareness training for all NHS and social care staff; and address “language deprivation” in deaf children through “early and comprehensive” BSL provision and support for families.
The Locked Out report* follows the passing of the British Sign Language (BSL) Act in April 2022, which was introduced as a private members’ bill by Labour MP Rosie Cooper and recognised BSL as a language of England, Wales, and Scotland.
The act provided Deaf people with no new rights, but it secured significant support from the Deaf community, and it led the following year to the government setting up its BSL Advisory Board to offer advice to ministers on key issues affecting the Deaf community.
All the board’s members are deaf or deafblind, or have deaf parents or a deaf child.
Craig Crowley, the board’s co-chair, says in a foreword to the report that the document is a “powerful call to action and a roadmap towards a more inclusive and equitable future for BSL users within our health and social care systems”.
He says: “We acknowledge the distressing reality of delayed diagnoses, inadequate treatment, and the emotional impact of communication breakdowns, but we strongly believe these are challenges we can, and must, overcome.”
The British Deaf Association (BDA) welcomed the new report and its “stark” findings, describing it as the “most comprehensive examination ever undertaken into the barriers faced by Deaf and Deafblind BSL users across the NHS and social care systems”.
It said the persistent failures in communication access were causing avoidable harm, entrenched inequalities, and the denial of basic rights for tens of thousands of Deaf and Deafblind people across the UK.
Rebecca Mansell, BDA’s chief executive, said: “This is a ground-breaking report that lays bare the challenges that deaf signers face every day with the NHS and care system.
“This report confirms what Deaf and Deafblind people have been telling government for decades: the health and social care system is not built with our communities in mind.
“We are particularly delighted to see the strong focus in the report’s recommendations on the steps that governments must take to address language deprivation in deaf children and adults.
“We strongly endorse the recommendation that governments provide free BSL courses for the families of deaf children.
“This recommendation backs up the recently published report, The Value of British Sign Language – An Economic Analysis, written by Rand Europe, the policy research organisation.
“This reports that the teaching of BSL to young deaf children and their families delivers an impressive economic return on investment – up to £14 for every £1 invested.
“This report requires a strong and supportive government response, and we will be contacting BDA members to urge them to write to their MPs.”
The Department of Health and Social Care had failed to comment on the report by noon today (Thursday).
*Locked out: Exclusion of deaf and deafblind BSL users from health and social care in the UK
4 December 2025
Years of scapegoating rhetoric has led to ‘envy and resentment’ of those with blue badges, research finds
Years of scapegoating rhetoric and politicians casting disabled people as “scroungers” have reinforced prejudices about the blue badge parking scheme and led to “envy and resentment” instead of equal access, according to a four-year research project.
Half-hearted implementation of the scheme has left disabled people who rely on it feeling worried, angry and frustrated, and like “second-class citizens”, because of the encounters they have had while trying to use their badges, the research concludes.
The research was carried out by Vera Kubenz, a disabled postgraduate researcher at the University of Birmingham, and herself a blue badge holder.
She said this week that she feared that recent rhetoric around disabled people receiving “free cars” through the Motability scheme, and the need for cuts to disability benefits, would lead to a fresh wave of such aggressive and hateful encounters.
In a summary report based on her research, Disabled People’s Encounters with Strangers in Accessible Parking Spaces, Kubenz concludes that, as long as there is wider societal prejudice, hostility and suspicion aimed at disabled people, “there can be no such thing as a truly accessible space”.
As part of her research, she surveyed more than 300 disabled people with experience of encounters – good and bad – while using their blue badges.
In the survey, 74 per cent of disabled people said they had been accused of “faking” their impairments while using their blue badges.
These types of encounters were particularly common for younger disabled people, with some told they were “too young” to be disabled.
One of those who took part in the survey, who is 49, said: “A member of the public stopped me as I was parking in a Blue Badge space.
“He knocked on my window, I wound it down and he told me I shouldn’t be parking there, and I had no right to be there.
“I explained I was disabled. He said I was too young and there was nothing wrong with me.
“I proceeded to get into my wheelchair and get out of the car, in fairness, he did look quite embarrassed when I got out of the car.”
The impact of such encounters was clear, with 91 per cent of disabled people who took part in the survey saying they worried about them, with 40 per cent always worrying and 35 per cent worrying a lot, while more than two thirds (68 per cent) said they sometimes did not use their vehicles because of the worry.
Another survey participant said: “A man in his 50s came over trying to take our car keys out of the car (luckily it was a keyless ignition Motability vehicle).
“When he realised he couldn’t get the key he came round to my side trying to grab my Blue Badge.
“We was called every name under the sun. The c word, the n word, lots of f yous.
“All because we had parked in the disabled bay… I was that upset with the whole incident I wanted to just leave and not have my operation.”
Common locations for encounters were supermarket carparks (87 per cent of those surveyed), near shops (70 per cent) and at hospitals or GP surgeries (58 per cent).
Most people (70 per cent) experienced encounters between a few times a year and a few times a month.
People with chronic illness, who were neurodivergent, or who had mental health conditions were particularly likely to be confronted over their use of accessible parking spaces.
Many of those surveyed said that being under constant suspicion meant they always felt on edge and worried that an encounter could happen at any moment.
Two thirds (67 per cent) of disabled people taking part in the survey had experienced hate and harassment in accessible parking spaces.
Negative encounters could involve staring, tutting, or hushed comments, while nearly half (46 per cent) of people had been insulted and a third (32 per cent) had been threatened, while some (six per cent) had been subjected to physical violence.
But most people (69 per cent) had also had at least one positive encounter, often a positive chat with another blue badge holder.
Kubenz says in the report that enforcement of blue badge spaces is often a postcode lottery.
Although some of those surveyed said their councils took action to enforce rules around the use of blue badges, many others said their council took no action.
One said: “I wish that Blue Badge parking was properly policed because what we have now is the worst of both worlds, people making assumptions and not looking at the badge and trying to police it for the benefit of those who do, but in doing so make lots of assumptions.”
Ultimately, says Kubenz, all disabled people who use blue badges risk confrontations because “nobody can live up to the impossible stereotype required for being truly ‘deserving’”.
The survey of 304 blue badge holders was carried out in 2023, while there were 20 follow-up interviews; it was open to holders of blue badges who had had at least one encounter, were over 18, and lived in England.
Kubenz told Disability News Service this week: “I am very concerned that the renewed government and media statements about disabled people’s ‘free cars’ and cuts to both in- and out-of-work benefits will intensify the resentment non-disabled people have against all disabled people, and that this will lead to more encounters because people feel entitled to ‘police’ blue badge bays because they are seen as a perk rather than essential for access.
“These confrontations can range from underhanded comments to intrusive questions, verbal abuse, and even physical violence.
“I fear the current government rhetoric will directly contribute to more aggression and hate towards disabled people.”
She added: “Many of the people interviewed had little faith that the government would change anything about blue badge policy or awareness, precisely because they are responsible for so many of the misconceptions that lead to encounters.
“I conclude in my research that currently the blue badge scheme only provides bare minimum access; it is not about equality, but about keeping disabled people ‘in their place’.”
On Friday 12 December, between 12pm and 1pm, Kubenz is hosting a webinar on the findings of her Politics of Parking project, with guest speakers Anjna Patel, a trustee of Disabled Motoring UK, and accessible transport campaigner Christiane Link
4 December 2025
Other disability-related stories covered by mainstream media this week
Health secretary Wes Streeting is launching an independent review into rising demand for mental health, ADHD, and autism services in England. It will look at whether there is evidence of over-diagnosis and what gaps in support exist. Reports of the review first emerged in October: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8q26q2r75o
Labour proposed while in opposition how to introduce assisted suicide via a private members’ bill, suggesting that this would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process, a leaked document has revealed. The document proposed a change strikingly similar to the private members’ bill put forward eventually by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater. The leak raises fresh questions over how much government control there has been behind her bill: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/dec/03/labour-planned-in-opposition-introduce-assisted-dying-via-private-members-bill
Virgin Media has been fined £23.8 million for putting thousands of “vulnerable” people “at risk of harm” when switching them from an analogue to a digital landline. Media watchdog Ofcom found the company failed to protect people who relied on telecare alarms to call for help, after Virgin Media self-reported a number of “serious incidents” in November and December 2023: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/dec/01/virgin-media-fined-vulnerable-customers-landline-ofcom
4 December 2025
News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com
