§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the number of people in the United Kingdom who are permanently and substantially handicapped by disability; and what is their estimate of those with hearing, sight, mobility and other disabilities. [HL1145]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)Information is not available on the permanence of disability, and there is no administrative count of the number of severely disabled or single definition of severe disability. However the 1996–97 Disability Survey asked around 7,000 disabled people a series of questions about their disability. On the basis of the answers to these questions, approximately 1.84 million adults in private households in Great Britain met the survey's definition of severe disability.
On the basis of responses to the Disability Survey, the estimated numbers of people with hearing, sight, mobility and other disabilities are shown in the table below. Because many people reported more than one condition the total number exceeds 1.84 million.
Condition Number reported (millions) Locomotion 1.69 Hearing 0.72 Sight 0.68 Other 7.45