HL Deb 13 July 2000 vol 615 cc40-1WA
Lord Campbell of Croy

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many disabled people (as defined in Schedule 1 to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) there are in the United Kingdom. [HL3240]

Baroness Blackstone

Figures for all adults, including those of state pension age and over, can be estimated using findings from a recent research study1. According to these estimates there are around 9.4 million people aged 16 and over who are covered by the DDA.

In addition, there are estimated to be 394,000 children and young people under 16 who are disabled and therefore likely to be covered by the DDA1.

1 Disability Discrimination Act: Analysis of Data from an Omnibus Survey, DSS In-house Report, 30 July 1997.

2 Quality Protects: Disabled children numbers categories and families. Department of Health. http://www.doh.gov.uk/eor/children.html.

Lord Campbell of Croy

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in estimating the number of disabled people in the United Kingdom, they take account of the 1991 census which records approximately 6.5 million chronically ill and disabled people. [HL3241]

Baroness Blackstone

The Government use a variety of sources to estimate the number of disabled people in the UK, including census figures. The 2001 census will include a question on illness and disability, which will provide robust information on people of all ages.

However, the census information does not take account of the number of people covered by the Disability Discrimination Act. In particular, the census figures do not indicate whether a disability has a "substantial, adverse impact on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities". Equally important, the census is only carried out every 10 years, so more up-to-date figures on disability need to be found from other sources.

The Government use the Labour Force Survey to provide up-to-date disability figures on quarterly basis for all adults of working age. This involves interviewing adults from 65,000 households every quarter. Respondents are asked about health problems or disabilities that last for more than a year; whether these affect the work they might do and whether these substantially limit a person's ability to carry out normal day to day activities. This allows the Government to provide with a high degree of accuracy, the number of people of working age covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, as well as the economic activity of disabled people more generally.