News Updates

Disability Equality North West is a Disabled People's Organisation that started in 1996. We are run and controlled by disabled people and offer a wide range of advice and information services to support disabled people.

We are proud of the work that we do and the positive impact that the advice we are able to provide can have for disabled people. The advice that we are able to provide is largely thanks to the exceptional work by a dedicated team of staff and volunteers who are disabled people.

We know that this advice and information is invaluable, without it many disabled people would not get the information, support and benefits that they are legally entitled too. However there are some things that we do not have the expertise to give advice on. For discrimination, human rights or complex welfare benefits cases, legal aid can be crucial in ensuring that disabled people get the correct advice in order to receive the benefits to which they are entitled.

However, the Government is proposing to remove social welfare cases from the scope of legal aid.  The removal of legal aid for these cases will mean that the specialist advice provided by charities like the Citizens Advice Bureau, Law Centres and other independent advice agencies will not be available.

Furthermore, the proposals will mean that 78,000 disabled people will be denied specialist legal advice for complex welfare benefits problems – that is 58% of the total number of people affected.

As well as the devastating impact on disabled people, we have real concerns that such proposals will place real pressure on advice services such as Disability Equality. 

We are anticipating a huge surge in demand for specialist advice that our staff and volunteer base does not have the specialist legal advice to deliver.  Furthermore, when disabled people approach us for advice on a complex welfare benefits issue, there will be no-one to send them to so that they can receive the right advice.

The Bill is due back in the House of Commons on 17th April, where MPs will vote on whether to preserve this legal advice for disabled people.  At Disability Equality North West, we have written to our local MP to make our concerns clear, and I would urge you to click here and do the same to preserve legal aid for disabled people.

(If you are unsure what your MP's contact details are, use the link below to help you to find them).

Melanie Close

Cheif Executive DENW

Find Your MP!

The consultation will run for 14 weeks until 30 June and the current intention is that the final draft of the regulations will be published by the end of this year. Further information about Personal Independence Payment is available on the DWP website below. You can also download a copy from the link also below.

We will be collecting responses shortly. Please use our contact page to let us know if you have a response you would like us to include!

PIP - consultation on detailed design

DWP/Personal Independence Payment website page

Tags: pip, dla,

It's part of the current BBC series looking at disabled people's lives and is generating a lot of debate. The Clark family take us through the reality of disabled parents' lives and family life, challenging barriers, attitudes and stereotypes.  We encourage you to take part in discussion about the issues it raises on our Facebook site and Twitter feeds.

Tags: drop-the-baby, clark

Because of this DENW will be supporting project work in Lancashire to improve these outcomes. .

The aim of the campaign is to raise public awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer and to encourage those with persistent symptoms to see their GP promptly. Although the great majority of those presenting with symptoms will not have bowel cancer, some will – and by catching the cancer earlier, it should be more treatable.

The national campaign started earlier this year (check it out via the link below) but DENW will be promoting awareness for the next few months and offering help and advice for those who need more information before apporaching their GP. 

The campaign is designed to:

• give simple information about bowel cancer symptoms
• provide a clear call to action to see the GP
• give a reassuring message that earlier diagnosis improves the chances of successful treatment.

The campaign is aimed at people over the age of 55, particulalry those vulnerable and or living on low incomes.

Be Clear on Cancer

Tags: bowel, cancer, bcsp, screening

(See pats previous post)

They were shocked because they thought we wouldn’t speak up, but they were wrong: activists across the board have united in challenging them on this disastrous attack on disability benefits.

For far too long, the government thought they could do what they liked to us. Now we are speaking up as one, the government is closing the debate down by extraordinary measures, so that we still feel unheard. If the government closes debate down, we believe we could all use Pat’s Petition to make sure we open it up again. It is a petition that will hopefully lead to a Peoples Debate.

So far, the petition has reached over 28,000 signatures to be number 15 out of over 11,000 petitions on the government e-petition site. It did that in its first three months. We know it can get to 100,000 if we continue working together. That gives us the opportunity for debate.

Being an electronic petition, this means every one putting the link to Pat’s Petition  in newsletters, on websites, in mail outs, social media sites – every where you can. Ask people to sign themselves, and also to ask friends and family and people on their networks to sign. Please encourage everyone to be proactive in this – if each of the current signatories got just 4 other people to sign, the target would be reached.

In the age of social media – we can do this.

Pat’s Petition is for all of us. For every one who is angry about the way the government is treating disabled people and their families.

Support Pat’s Petition and take the debate right back to Westminster where they have to hear us.

If you can help raise awareness further please do contact me at  - patspetition@gmail.com 

The list of supporters is growing and includes –

Disabled People Against the Cuts, Greater; Manchester Coalition of Disabled People; Disability Equality (NW); SWAN – Social Work Action Network ; NAVCA

Tags: cuts, petition, pat, welfare-reform