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The charity Guide Dogs has launched a campaign and petition calling for the strengthening of the Equality Act so that businesses do not refuse assistance dogs. Alongside the campaign, the charity has launched a new research report that highlights that over 80% of guide dog owners had experienced an access refusal because they had their dog with them.

A new survey report from Carers UK highlights that the cost of living crisis has led to a quarter of carers saying they were cutting back on essentials such as food or heating, with 93% who were struggling to make ends meet saying that the increase in the cost of living was having a negative impact on their mental and/or physical health.

Nearly a quarter of 16-year-old girls in England have been in contact with NHS mental health, autism and learning disability services in the past year. New figures show a large rise in the number of children and teenagers seeking help, with almost a million contacting the NHS. There has been a rise across all age groups, with almost a fifth more people needing support compared with three years ago.

In a parliamentary answer on 30 November, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride declined to give a “categorical assurance” that the means testing of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) would not form part of the Chancellor’s 17 November Autumn Statement.

A blind woman has claimed she was forced to leave a Premier Inn hotel because staff did not believe that her golden retriever was a guide dog. Angharad Paget-Jones, 29, who was staying at the Premier Inn in Enfield on 5 November, said she was woken up by staff asking her to show proof her golden retriever, Tudor, was an assistance dog.