News & blogs

Our blogs

All our blogs are written by Z2K's staff, trustees and volunteers

August 2, 2019 · Bailiff reform | Blog | Disability Rights | Eimear Twomey | ESA & PIP | Housing & homelessness | Private Rented Sector project

The reality of moving from homelessness to the Private Rented Sector

Eimear Twomey, our Tenancy Engagement Officer, on managing what can be an extremely difficult move from homelessness to the Private Rented Sector.

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August 14, 2019 · Andy McCarthy | Blog | Disability Rights | ESA & PIP

Appeal lapse statistics show that the Mandatory Reconsideration is not fit for purpose

Z2K’s FOI request reveals that thousands of appeals are lapsing every year, distorting DWP and HMCTS statistics and hiding the true extent of poor decision making. 19% of PIP appeals were lapsed in 2018, showing that the Mandatory Reconsideration process just isn’t working.

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July 17, 2019 · Blog | Disability Rights | ESA & PIP | Lucy Isaac

Moving from DLA to PIP could mean losing mobility and independence

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) began replacing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in 2013. Both benefits are designed, in theory, to help with the extra costs of having a disability or long-term health conditions. We are finding that the threshold for PIP is much higher than DLA, and people are worse off. This is particularly the case for those with physical disabilities, but no mental health issues.

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Latest news

We’re in the news…

Nationwide foundation to spend over £800,000 funding tenants’ unions

Foundation backed by lender says vulnerable renters lack a voice and is funding three tenants' unions, two housing charities and several housing rights campaign groups | The Negotiator

Revised benefits letter still 'misleading' GPs about issuing fit notes

A benefits letter sent to GPs explaining patients are fit for work is still 'misleading' despite having been revised by the Department for Work and Pensions, family doctors have warned | Anviksha Patel writes in Pulse

DWP finally scraps 'misleading' fit-for-work letters to GPs - but faces new row

EXCLUSIVE: Letters which were sent on behalf of more than 150,000 people found 'fit for work' have been withdrawn - but the DWP faces a new row after a charity said their replacement is not good enough either | Dan Bloom writes in The Mirror

DWP: Advertising watchdog launches investigation into Universal Credit adverts

Charities demanded the DWP withdraws the ads with immediate effect after the Advertising Standards Authority launched a formal probe | Dan Bloom writes in The Mirror

Universal Credit: charity launches complaint over DWP ad campaign

An anti-poverty charity has lodged an official complaint over a government-backed Universal Credit ad campaign, claiming the content is “deliberately misleading” | Inside Housing

Grenfell and the long wait for a tenants’ watchdog

Campaigners, including the chief executives of major charities, write to demand the creation a consumer regulator for social housing, in the wake of the Grenfell disaster | The Guardian Letters

Watch the full Channel 4 video here

Our CEO Raji slams the DWP for making the wrong decisions on people's lives time and again - stopping them from accessing the benefits they need.

Watch here

Mayor unveils new London Housing Panel

Raji Hunjan, panel Chair and CEO of Z2K, says: “The 15 organisations represented on this panel work to empower communities and individuals who have faced unacceptable housing problems, which include poor conditions, discrimination and unaffordable rent...”

Sadiq Khan reveals new London Housing Panel

Development Finance Today:
Raji Hunjan, CEO at anti-poverty charity Zacchaeus 2000 Trust, has been named chairman of the panel and will also join the mayor’s Homes for Londoners Board to ensure the panel’s views are represented.

Universal Credit under attack as more than 80 charities unite against 'dangerous' adverts

Birmingham Live: A huge consortium of charities says the adverts are "dangerous to the health and financial security of disabled people". The mass fight against the campaign follows an earlier complaint lodged by anti-poverty charity Z2K

DWP's Universal Credit adverts trigger official complaint from anti-poverty charity

Z2K writes to Advertising Standards Authority challenging DWP's 'myth-busting' campaign | Birmingham Live

Universal Credit: charity launches complaint over DWP ad campaign

Inside Housing, Z2K has lodged an official complaint over a government-backed Universal Credit ad campaign, claiming the content is “deliberately misleading” | Inside Housing

Official complaint made over DWP's controversial Universal Credit adverts

Z2K takes issue with department for work and pension's campaign in the Metro - calling it 'propaganda' | Liverpool Echo

Fury as DWP launches taxpayer-funded 'spin' campaign to defend Universal Credit

Dan Bloom, The Mirror: Charities slammed the "shameless and deceptive" campaign - launched on the same day as a searing report by a United Nations Special Rapporteur

'DWP has sent 150,000 of the 'fit for work' letters that 'risk patients' health'

Dan Bloom, The Mirror: EXCLUSIVE: The scale of the problem is exposed after 146,500 people were found 'fit for work' in the 13 months since the DWP changed the wording of a controversial letter

"Fit notes for benefit claimants: medical bodies “did not agree” advice to GPs"

Raji Hunjan in British Medical Journal: “Patients + claimants are suffering + continue to suffer as long as these letters are sent out. We do not believe any such letter should exist, [they] must be withdrawn with immediate effect.”

'A Culture of Disbelief: why our #ScraptheLetters campaign is emblematic of a much wider problem'.

Ella Abraham writes for Public Sector Focus discussing the launch of Z2K's campaign, and highlights the long and arduous disability assessment process

Doctors Tell DWP: We Didn't Approve Wording Of 'Misleading' Benefits Letter

George Bowden, Huff Post: "Patients and claimants are suffering and continue to suffer as long as these letters are sent out."

Ministers Plan Multi-Billion Pound Overhaul of 'Demeaning' Disability Benefit Assessments

Charities fear new one-stop process will lead to more people losing payments.

Thousands tell Amber Rudd to #ScraptheLetters

67,000 signatories are calling on the Department for Work and Pensions to stop sending GPs letters claiming that their patients do not need a ‘fit note’, writes Phil Miller in the Morning Star

Scrap 'misleading' fit-for-work letter to GPs, says Labour

Removal of advice is leaving ill and disabled people destitute, says Marsha de Cordova

'Misleading' DWP letter causing ill and disabled people to lose benefits

Patrick Butler in the Guardian: 'Advice removed for GPs to provide notes for patients challenging fit-for-work tests'

DWP accused of 'interfering with GPs' in letters declaring patients fit for work

Dan Bloom for The Mirror covering #ScraptheLetters campaign

Don't Give Your Severely Ill Patients Sick Notes For Benefits, DWP Tells GPs

“It is not for the DWP to interfere with the GP and their patient." George Bowden for Huff Post:

Patients risk homelessness after DWP sends GPs misleading benefits letters

Anviksha Patel for Pulse Today: 'GPs are being explicitly told not to issue fit notes to patients by the Department of Work and Pensions, even if there is still a chance that the decision could be appealed.'

"Backdoor policies" denying people with mental illnesses access to ESA

The government's department for work and pensions (DWP) is sending doctors premature and misleading letters suggesting ill patients no longer need a “fit note” (medical note) after being found fit for work, an influential charity claimed today - Mental Health Today.

Welfare contract worth billions up for grabs

Ministers are now looking at overhauling assessments for people applying for health and disability benefits. Outsourced to private companies for multi-million dollar contracts, they’ve long been criticised as” fundamentally flawed’.

Now the government is finally looking to transform them, and this programme has learnt it could mean new opportunities for private companies, with a potential contract worth an estimated £3bn up for grabs.

A Timely Lesson

Labour must remember the principled stand George Lansbury and his colleagues made during the Poplar rates rebellion and argue for the renationalisation of our social security system, write Raji Hunjan and Marc Francis.

Universal Credit: This Is What It’s Like Surviving On Benefits At A Time Of Huge Change In The System

Emma Youle for Huff Post: 'It was only with support from the charity Zacchaeus 2000 Trust and the help of Citizens Advice Bureau and his GP that he was able to appeal the decision at tribunal, where his medical assessment score was increased from nine points to 66. You need 15 points to qualify for PIP and Simon was told his case was so clear cut it should never have reached court.'

Are you Daniel Blake? Here’s a guide to using our nightmarish benefits system

Ken Loach’s film shows the spiralling problems faced by welfare claimants. Our charity is just one place where people can go for help | Matthew Ahluwalia writes an Opinion Piece in the Guardian

News & blogs

Our blogs

The reality of moving from homelessness to the Private Rented Sector

Appeal lapse statistics show that the Mandatory Reconsideration is not fit for purpose

Moving from DLA to PIP could mean losing mobility and independence

Latest news

PRESS RELEASE: Revised DWP letter to GPs continues to be misleading and put barriers between patients and their doctor.

Advertising Standards Authority takes Z2K’s Complaint about the misleading DWP “Myth Busting” ads to the next stage of investigation

Why Z2K’s staff and trustees are walking the London #LegalWalk and why you should donate to our fundraising page

We’re in the news…

Nationwide foundation to spend over £800,000 funding tenants’ unions

Revised benefits letter still 'misleading' GPs about issuing fit notes

DWP finally scraps 'misleading' fit-for-work letters to GPs - but faces new row

DWP: Advertising watchdog launches investigation into Universal Credit adverts

Universal Credit: charity launches complaint over DWP ad campaign

Grenfell and the long wait for a tenants’ watchdog

Watch the full Channel 4 video here

Mayor unveils new London Housing Panel

Sadiq Khan reveals new London Housing Panel

Universal Credit under attack as more than 80 charities unite against 'dangerous' adverts

DWP's Universal Credit adverts trigger official complaint from anti-poverty charity

Universal Credit: charity launches complaint over DWP ad campaign

Official complaint made over DWP's controversial Universal Credit adverts

Fury as DWP launches taxpayer-funded 'spin' campaign to defend Universal Credit

'DWP has sent 150,000 of the 'fit for work' letters that 'risk patients' health'

"Fit notes for benefit claimants: medical bodies “did not agree” advice to GPs"

'A Culture of Disbelief: why our #ScraptheLetters campaign is emblematic of a much wider problem'.

Doctors Tell DWP: We Didn't Approve Wording Of 'Misleading' Benefits Letter

Ministers Plan Multi-Billion Pound Overhaul of 'Demeaning' Disability Benefit Assessments

Thousands tell Amber Rudd to #ScraptheLetters

Scrap 'misleading' fit-for-work letter to GPs, says Labour

'Misleading' DWP letter causing ill and disabled people to lose benefits

DWP accused of 'interfering with GPs' in letters declaring patients fit for work

Don't Give Your Severely Ill Patients Sick Notes For Benefits, DWP Tells GPs

Patients risk homelessness after DWP sends GPs misleading benefits letters

"Backdoor policies" denying people with mental illnesses access to ESA

Welfare contract worth billions up for grabs

A Timely Lesson

Universal Credit: This Is What It’s Like Surviving On Benefits At A Time Of Huge Change In The System

Are you Daniel Blake? Here’s a guide to using our nightmarish benefits system