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DWP boss McFadden making vague pronouncements about ‘helping people into work’ again

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  • Post last modified:16 July 2026
DWP boss McFadden making vague pronouncements about ‘helping people into work’ again

Pat McFadden, the leader of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is already working to set the media agenda ahead of the full publication of two flagship reports in the autumn. Inevitably, he’s bleating about ‘supporting’ people with health conditions to get into work. In a 15 July interview with the Guardian, McFadden stated that his department had already begun its work in advance of the final reports: Even before they’ve reported, I’m already speaking to the Department for Education [and] the Department for Health. We’re going to have to respond to this as a government. It’s my job to…

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Study finds DWP benefits already harder to get for people with ADHD

Study finds DWP benefits already harder to get for people with ADHD

Despite what the corporate media and MP’s are always spreading, a new study has shown that it’s actually harder to get disability benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if you have ADHD. For months now the rags have pushed the narrative that too many people with ADHD are cheating the system and claiming Personal Independence Payments (PIP). The latest was from The Times: More than 100,000 get benefits for ADHD with no need to seek work As the Canary reported at the time, this was days before the DWP released the Timms Review into PIP. This was a…

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Responses from disabled people detail “soul-destroying” DWP PIP assessments

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  • Post last modified:10 July 2026
Responses from disabled people detail “soul-destroying” DWP PIP assessments

The 9 July interim report from the Timms Review of the Department for Work and Pension’s (DWP) Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system found that the benefit was both vitally necessary and deeply unfit for purpose. After putting out a call for responses back in March, the reviewers received over 38,000 responses. This was in spite of the fact that the response period was limited to 10 weeks, rather than the customary 12. Within these, the vast majority — around 90%  — of the responses were negative. Roughly half mentioned PIP’s financial inadequacy, and over a quarter referenced decisions or appeals that…

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Interim Timms Report brands DWP PIP system “not fit for purpose”

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  • Post last modified:10 July 2026
Interim Timms Report brands DWP PIP system “not fit for purpose”

On 9 July, social security and disability minister Stephen Timms published his interim report on the state of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system. The initial findings were damning, recognising that the payments were vitally necessary for disabled recipients, but ultimately “not fit for purpose”. In large part, this failing was due to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)-managed assessment system. Participants branded those assessments as “dehumanising”, “soul destroying”, and “degrading”. The review also highlighted pressing concerns regarding: whether the functional assessment and descriptors fully reflect real-life impacts, particularly for fluctuating, multiple, and less visible conditions, as well as about…

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DWP controls media narrative ahead of DWP Timms PIP report, again

DWP controls media narrative ahead of DWP Timms PIP report, again

The press has been ramping up its hatred of neurodivergent conditions again. Coincidentally, this was just days before the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released the interim report for the Timms Review into Personal Independence Payment (PIP). DWP controlling narratives again The interim report was released this morning, and the Canary will bring you more analysis on that once we’ve digested all 74 pages of it.  If the Milburn Review report and the Neurodivergent conditions reports are anything to go by, it won’t yield the results the DWP wanted. Ahead of the Milburn Review, the media ran rolling, breaking news…

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Senior DWP figure made ableist joke outside Access to Work inquiry

Senior DWP figure made ableist joke outside Access to Work inquiry

A senior civil servant in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) made an ableist joke whilst waiting to give evidence on the department’s failings. Disability News Service reports that Neil Couling, director general of DWP services and fraud, made the joke surrounded by other senior figures in a corridor in Portcullis House. They were all waiting to give evidence to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the National Audit Office’s (NAO) joint inquiry into Access to Work. Couling shows exactly who the DWP are The DWP came under fire because it’s quietly cutting Access to Work whilst forcing more disabled…

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Pat McFadden admits Timms Review could cause DWP PIP cuts

Pat McFadden admits Timms Review could cause DWP PIP cuts

Pat McFadden has finally admitted that the Timms review into Personal Independence Payment (PIP) could trigger benefit cuts. The head of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Pat McFadden, told the Work and Pensions Committee that there was “nothing to stop” the review from recommending reforms that would cut welfare spending on PIP. McFadden desperate for DWP PIP cuts Responding to the fact that many interpreted the terms of reference as discouraging reviewers from recommending any reductions in PIP spending. But of course, Labour wouldn’t want to come across as caring about vulnerable people. McFadden said: What we were saying in…

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DWP shutdown Whateley’s ‘polygamous marriages are stealing benefits’ dogwhistle

DWP shutdown Whateley’s ‘polygamous marriages are stealing benefits’ dogwhistle

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has debunked the right-wing dog whistle suggesting Muslims are claiming benefits for households where a man has multiple wives. Racist British media are beating the same drum to whip-up hatred against Muslims again… GB News, of course, led the charge, running with the headline “DWP increases benefits paid to husbands with two or more wives.” The rag continued: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has increased the weekly allowance paid to additional spouses in recognised overseas polygamous marriages as part of this year’s benefits uprating. From April 2026, each additional spouse in an…

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DWP urged to guarantee lifetime disability benefits for people with terminal illness

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  • Post last modified:8 June 2026
DWP urged to guarantee lifetime disability benefits for people with terminal illness

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shouldn’t force people living with terminal illness and progressive, life-limiting conditions to undergo stressful, costly and unnecessary disability benefit reassessments. So says a coalition of more than 30 organisations, led by end-of-life charity Marie Curie, in an open letter to DWP minister Stephen Timms. Sent on 28 May to coincide with the Call for Evidence deadline for the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payments, the open letter describes the reform as a “clear and compassionate” way to protect people living with terminal illness and those with progressive life-limiting conditions. DWP has a chance to…

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Milburn report is contradicted by what the DWP is doing

Milburn report is contradicted by what the DWP is doing

Yesterday saw the release of the interim report of the Milburn Review into youth unemployment. However, it completely contradicts everything the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is already doing to make life harder for unemployed and disabled young people. A media circus instead of support The long-awaited report was supposed to delve into why so many young people are unemployed. However, that was never going to be the whole story when it was run by Alan Milburn. Once you got past the DWP-created media circus, the report was Milburn’s attempt to prove his foregone conclusion that young people were faking…

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DWP Milburn Report is another excuse to throw disabled kids under the bus

DWP Milburn Report is another excuse to throw disabled kids under the bus

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released the interim report for the Milburn Review on Youth Unemployment yesterday. The report was an exercise in how the DWP has a compliant corporate media at its beck and call. But as always, we need to look at the parts of the report the DWP didn’t want shouted from the rooftops. Corporate shills marching to the DWP’s beat The corporate media, of course, had a field day yesterday getting to crow about the ‘lost generation’, especially those with mental health conditions. At one point, both the BBC and Guardian were running live rolling…

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DWP hypes youth unemployment panic ahead of Milburn Review

DWP hypes youth unemployment panic ahead of Milburn Review

The long-awaited interim report into the Milburn Review on youth unemployment is expected today. In typical style, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are already steering the corporate media in its benefits-hating direction. DWP Milburn review out today In November 2025, the department announced an independent review into why so many young people were Not in Employment, Education of Training (NEETs). The review is run by Alan Milburn. He has been prolific in wanting to strip disabled people of unemployment benefits. Additionally, the review will focus heavily on why kids aren’t working or in education. However, this is Labour so…

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