New Employment support allowance
From 27 October 2008 Employment and Support Allowance replaces Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds for new customers.
RNIB and Action for Blind People to merge
RNIB's planned takeover of the charity Action for Blind People will be good news for blind people, both charities have claimed.
The legal details of the agreement are yet to be agreed, but both charities are hopeful that the agreement will come into effect in April, 2009.
Council toilet closures blamed on DDA
Local authorities are using the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) as an excuse to close public toilets, a committee of MPs has claimed.
According to the report by the Commons communities and local government committee, many councils claim they cannot afford access adaptations required by the DDA and have used this as an excuse to shut their public toilets.
The committee report estimates that the number of public toilets in the UK between 2000 and 2008 fell by nearly a sixth, from around 5,410 to 4,423. But it claims that the number of these toilets with facilities for disabled people rose by about the same proportion, to 3,353, between 1994 and 2000.
Helpline faces closure
Specialist telephone helpline which provides counselling and support to people with learning difficulties faces closure because of a lack of funding.
The helpline is run by the charity Respond, which supports people with learning difficulties who are the victims and perpetrators of abuse.
It is staffed by therapists trained to offer emotional and psychological support on issues including sexual and physical abuse and bereavement.
For more information on disability issues please visit:
Birmingham Disability Resource Centre (BDRC)
Regional Disability Network (RDN)
If you want to get your news about any issue affecting disabled people in the West Midlands onto the RDN website or if your group would like to become a member organisation of the RDN, then please contact me via email at: pete@cdp.org.uk
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