Stef Benstead

The Timms Review steering group wants to hear your views on the future of PIP The first step in the group’s engagement – a Call for Evidence – is now open. They will share more ways to get involved soon Share your views by 28 May 2026 at ow.ly/cwSE50YvB9o

It's taken 6.5 months for the council to do a really poor job of considering my needs. The whole process has been slow and opaque. I've only just found out that technically I haven't even 'applied' for the DFG yet, because the basic approval is needed before actually applying.

It shouldn't be hard for the council to approve a wheelchair-accessible flat for a wheelchair-user. It should be easy for them to realise that this means widened doors, relocation of switches and sockets, accessible bathroom and kitchen layouts, and ramps to front and back doors.

In early Sep, I applied to my council for a Disabled Facilities Grant to make my flat wheelchair accessible. They've just told me that they've approved an accessible bathroom and widened doorways. But they somehow missed the bit where I need an accessible kitchen.

Ugh for bus drivers who don't bother to wait for the bus in front to clear the long bus stop, so that they can pull in properly and let a wheelchair user on, and then claim it's because one of two wheelchair spaces on the bus is occupied. Yay for drivers who get the pram to move

It's tempting to suggest that the DWP should institute a new 'partially unfit for work' status, getting basic UC with a generous work allowance, for people who don't meet their "Fit4Jobs health assessment" but are not as ill as the threshold on the WCA. disabilitynewsservice.com/concern-over-f…

People can also have a role in society by having relationships and community. Those things require time and energy. Which means your job needs to pay well enough that you can stop working early enough in the day/week, to enjoy relationships, and still have enough to live off.

"Work can be demanding, exploitative, insecure & stressful, but...gives people a role in society & provides structure & social interaction. It is difficult to sustain good MH when there is no reason to get up in the morning & nothing to stop you spending the day in your bedroom."

It feels like there's an odd dichotomy here: on the one hand, suggesting that unemployed people need even bad work because otherwise we don't direct our lives to find meaning; but also, maybe the country should try a Universal Basic Income. criticalpsychiatry.co.uk/news/mental-he…

The government has refused to explain why it failed to publish any minutes from a board of experts set up 17 months ago to examine “economic inactivity” and particularly to focus on people not working due to “long-term sickness”. #DWP #EconomicInactivity disabilitynewsservice.com/secrecy-of-dwp…

The government has announced a £400 “cash boost” for disabled people who rely on social care in their own homes, while failing to point out that another ministerial decision will drag thousands of them into paying higher care charges. #MIG #CareCharges disabilitynewsservice.com/government-ann…

I don't understand Labour's fascination with the idea that, if a person might recover in future, that means they don't need as much money to live off now as does a person with the same level of illness/disability who definitely won't ever recover. You can't live off future money

It's one thing to say 'this person has a small possibility of improving in the future, so we'll reassess them at that point.' It's another to say, 'this person has a small possibility of improving, so we won't give them enough to live off now.' benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/claimants…

According to Labour's DWP, it wouldn't be appropriate for sick and disabled people to know what sort of criteria are being used against us, to put us on a lower rate of support. Just in case it helps someone fake a medically-provable non-curable disease. benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/dwp-argue…

That's what really worries me. The govt hasn't sorted mental health care - substantially increasing the quantity, quality, and range of therapies available - before advertising it. But they have spent time objecting to people getting financial support because of mental illness.

Implying that mental health services are there for you when you need them is a lovely implication to give. It may even make people think that MH treatment in the UK is good enough to justify cuts to other forms of support, such as income replacement for those who can't work.

Interesting to see an NHS/UK govt for Talking Therapies on TV. Implying that the sorts of therapy available under Talking Therapies is adequate for, eg, severe PTSD or agoraphobia. Talking Therapies is very limited in the modalities it offers. There's a lot it isn't suitable for.