UK Disability Campaigns
Scope – Benefits Without the Fight
Organisation: Scope
Benefits Without the Fight campaigns for a fairer disability benefits assessment system. Scope argues that many disabled people are wrongly denied support and must go through lengthy appeals to receive benefits they are entitled to.
Key Issues
- Inaccurate assessments
- High appeal rates
- Stress and financial hardship
- Delays in decision-making
Campaign Goals
- Improve assessment quality
- Reduce unnecessary reassessments
- Increase assessor training
- Create a more humane process
Why It Matters
Many disabled people rely on benefits such as PIP and Universal Credit to cover disability-related costs and maintain independence.
Website CTA
"Join the campaign for a fairer disability benefits system."
Scope – Disability Price Tag
Organisation: Scope
The Disability Price Tag campaign highlights the additional costs faced by disabled households. Scope's research shows disabled people face significant extra expenses because of disability.
Key Issues
- Higher energy costs
- Specialist equipment
- Accessible transport
- Care and support costs
- Home adaptations
Campaign Goals
- Government recognition of disability costs
- Increased financial support
- Better cost-of-living policies
Why It Matters
Financial inequality remains one of the largest barriers facing disabled people in the UK.
Scope – Travel Fair
Organisation: Scope
Travel Fair campaigns for fully accessible public transport across the UK.
Key Issues
- Broken lifts
- Inaccessible stations
- Poor staff training
- Difficult booking systems
Campaign Goals
- Step-free access
- Better assistance services
- Consistent accessibility standards
- Improved passenger rights
Why It Matters
Transport barriers prevent many disabled people from working, studying, and participating in society.
Scope – End the Awkward
Organisation: Scope
End the Awkward aims to challenge discomfort, stereotypes, and misconceptions around disability.
Objectives
- Improve disability confidence
- Reduce social stigma
- Encourage inclusive conversations
- Promote positive representation
Key Message
Most people want to be inclusive but are worried about saying the wrong thing.
Scope – Invisible Disabilities
Organisation: Scope
This campaign raises awareness that many disabilities are not immediately visible.
Conditions Highlighted
- Autism
- Chronic pain
- Mental health conditions
- Epilepsy
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Hearing loss
Campaign Goals
- Increase understanding
- Reduce judgment
- Improve accessibility
- Promote allyship
Key Message
"Not all disabilities are visible."
Scope – Let's Play Fair
Organisation: Scope
Let's Play Fair campaigns for accessible playgrounds where disabled and non-disabled children can play together.
Goals
- Inclusive playground design
- Accessible equipment
- Equal opportunities for play
- Better local authority standards
Why It Matters
Play is essential for child development and social inclusion.
Scope – Stuck: Reform Sick Pay
Organisation: Scope
This campaign seeks reform of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to make it more accessible and financially adequate.
Issues
- Low payment levels
- Eligibility barriers
- Financial insecurity during illness
Goals
- Inclusive SSP eligibility
- Better financial protection
- Reduced workplace inequality
Scope – We Won't Be Forgotten
Organisation: Scope
Overview
A campaign focused on ensuring disabled people are not overlooked during economic crises and cost-of-living pressures.
Key Themes
- Poverty
- Energy bills
- Food insecurity
- Disability-related expenses
Disabled People's Manifesto
Organisation: Disability Rights UK
Overview
The Disabled People's Manifesto sets out policy priorities created by disabled people and Disabled People's Organisations.
Core Themes
- Independent living
- Social care
- Employment
- Housing
- Transport
- Human rights
- Education
Goal
To influence national policy and legislation affecting disabled people.
Independent Living Campaign
Organisation: Disability Rights UK
Overview
Independent Living is one of the longest-running disability rights campaigns in the UK. It promotes disabled people's right to live with dignity and control over their own lives.
Core Principles
- Accessible housing
- Accessible transport
- Adequate income
- Personal assistance
- Inclusive education
- Equal employment
Why It Matters
Independent living is recognised internationally under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
UK Accessibility Act Campaign
Organisation: Disability Rights UK and partner DPOs
Overview
Campaigners are calling for a dedicated Accessibility Act to strengthen accessibility requirements across transport, housing, digital services, employment and public spaces.
Goals
- Stronger legal enforcement
- National accessibility standards
- Improved accountability
Disability Benefits Reform Campaign
Organisation: Disability Rights UK and disability groups
Overview
Focused on reforming PIP, Universal Credit disability support, and assessment systems.
Goals
- Fair assessments
- Co-designed welfare policies
- Better support for disabled claimants
Accessible Housing Campaign
Overview
Advocates for more accessible and adaptable housing across the UK.
Priorities
- Wheelchair-accessible homes
- Adaptable housing standards
- Affordable accessible accommodation
Accessible Elections Campaign
Overview
Works to ensure disabled people can participate fully in democratic processes.
Goals
- Accessible polling stations
- Alternative voting formats
- Better election information
Disability Hate Crime Campaign
Overview
Raises awareness of disability-related harassment, abuse and hate crime.
Objectives
- Stronger reporting systems
- Better police training
- Increased prosecutions
Learning Disability Campaigns
Mencap – Social Care Reform
Organisation: Mencap
Overview
Campaigning for sustainable social care funding and improved support for people with learning disabilities.
Key Issues
- Long waiting lists
- Lack of community support
- Workforce shortages
Mencap – Protecting Legal Safeguards
Overview
Recent campaigns have focused on protecting legal safeguards and rights for people with learning disabilities following major court decisions.
Goals
- Maintain legal protections
- Prevent loss of safeguards
- Protect vulnerable individuals
Jodey Whiting: Mum says she will 'never give up' as she prepares for next court hearing
The mother of a housebound disabled woman who took her own life after her benefits were stopped will have her case heard in the Court of Appeal.
Joy Dove has been campaigning for a second inquest into the death of her daughter Jodey Whiting to investigate the role the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) may have played.
She has now been given dates for a hearing at the end of this month, where lawyers will put her case to a judge.
Ms Dove told ITV Tyne Tees: "I've had so many people tell me how they have been treated. It's my daughter and so everybody else's daughters, sons, fathers, you know.
"We were so close and we could talk to each other and were a proper mother and daughter.
"I can't bring her back but I can only try, for her sake and her memory. I won't give up, I'll never give up, until the day I die."
https://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2023-01-09/jodey-whiting-mum-says-she-will-never-give-up-ahead-of-next-court-hearing?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Benefits system errors ‘predominant factor’ in Disabled claimant’s death
Errors in the benefits system were the ‘predominant factor’ in Philippa Day’s death, a Coroner has found.
Recording a narrative conclusion into Philippa’s death, Assistant Coroner Gordon Clow noted problems including the fact she was told to go for an assessment despite being eligible for a home assessment, and the lack of control staff had to be able to change automated letters being sent to her. While not ruling that the chain of events involving the DWP led directly to her suicide, he said: "…it was, at the least, Philippa Day’s intention to place her life at risk and to cause herself serious physical harm. It is not possible to determine on the available evidence whether or not it was her intention to thereby end her life."
He is recommending changes at both the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Capita, which undertakes work on behalf of the DWP.
Philippa died after being in a coma for two months after she was found collapsed at her home in August 2019. A letter was found next to her rejecting her request for a benefits assessment to be carried out at her home.
Philippa was Disabled. She had a personality disorder and diabetes and had been claiming Disability Living Allowance for her diabetes for a decade, but began a claim for PIP in November 2018. The application form was apparently lost by the DWP and Philippa’s DLA payments were stopped in January 2019.
They were not reinstated or replaced by PIP for almost six months and Philippa fell into serious debt.
The court heard about a call by Philippa to the DWP in which she cried while describing her poverty and debt. She said she was “literally starving and cold… I have nothing to eat… I genuinely can’t survive like this for much longer”. The agent who took the call said she did not raise the call with Philippa’s case manager and did not follow the DWP’s six-point plan on suicidal statements. The agent said she had heard many claimants crying and saying similar things.
The court also heard that inaccurate record-keeping on Philippa’s case had affected its progress.
A community psychiatric nurse told Capita that a face-to-face interview at an assessment centre scheduled for Philippa was causing immense distress. Capita refused to offer a home assessment.
Philippa’s family told the inquest that they believe the difficulties she had with both the DWP and Capita were the reasons she tried to take her own life.
DR UK’s Fazilet Hadi said: “An independent Inquiry into benefit-related deaths is long overdue. Philippa’s story is heart-breaking and reveals gross incompetence by the DWP and Capita. The DWP must take responsibility for safeguarding. It is in contact with millions of Disabled people with a variety of complex physical and mental conditions. It needs to put care at the heart of its processes to ensure it actively supports our needs and protects us from systemic harm.”
https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2021/january/benefits-system-errors-%E2%80%98predominant-factor%E2%80%99-disabled-claimant%E2%80%99s-death?utm_source=chatgpt.com