§ Mr. Croninasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to make blind people eligible for a mobility allowance.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisEligibility for the mobility allowance is linked not to partiticular diagnostic or disability groups but to inability or virtual inability to walk. Blind persons who are unable or virtually unable to walk because of physical disablement are eligible for mobility allowance on the same terms as other severely disabled persons.
The cost of widening the scope of the mobility allowance scheme to include blind and other people who can walk but have difficulty in getting about out of doors would be greater than we can contemplate at present. Further progress in increasing outdoor mobility help for disabled people, as in all other fields of public expenditure, is dependent upon the availability of resources.