§ Mr. David Steelasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of blind and partially-sighted persons in Scotland; and how many of those are registered with local authorities or with voluntary organisations acting on their behalf.
§ Mr. YoungerLocal authorities have a duty under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, as extended to Scotland by the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons (Scotland) Act 1972, to inform themselves of the number of chronically sick or disabled persons, who are persons in need, including those blind and partially-sighted, within their area. From information provided to my Department by local authorities and voluntary organisations acting as their agents, the numbers of blind and partially-sighted people who were in contact with local authorities and voluntary organisations at 31 March 1978, the latest date for which information is available, were 10,621 and 2,638 respectively.