July 2014
What: Rick Burgess, Jane Bence and Wayne Blackburn, three disabled people who were formerly part of the WOW petition campaign, and lawyer and benefits expert Nick Dilworth, set up the campaigning organisation New Approach, which is dedicated to scrapping the WCA and developing a replacement. Together with Mark Thomas (as part of his 100 Acts project), they release a report on the results of a survey of 884 people who have been through the WCA (Alexei Sayle voiced the audio version). The report concludes that the assessment is “abusive”, “disrespectful”, “callous and inhumane”, discriminates against disabled people and appears to promote unprofessional activity on the part of assessors and to cause hardship and poverty.
Why significant: User-led research about the systemic flaws at the heart of the WCA.