§ Mr. Butterfillasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will estimate the number of registered blind persons in receipt of mobility, invalidity or attendance allowances who are not suffering from a second disability in addition to blindness.
§ Mr. NewtonI regret that estimates cannot be provided in the form requested.
The latest information available shows that some 13,600 people with a visual impairment qualify for attendance allowance; some 3,000 people suffering from blindness or low vision qualify for contributory invalidity pension; and some 1,200 people with disorders of the eye qualify for non-contributory invalidity pension. Similar information is not available for mobility allowance. It is not known how many of those included in the figures above are registered blind or also suffer from a second disability.
§ Mr. Loydenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what consideration he is giving to enhancing the living standards of blind people.
§ Mr. NewtonIn looking for further practical improvements towards our objective of a more coherent system of benefits for disabled people we think it generally more appropriate to concentrate on helping all disabled people with particular needs rather than to single out particular types of disability.
To help the development of policy in the longer term we have commissioned a comprehensive survey from the office of Population Censuses and Surveys to provide up-to-date information about disabled people, including those with sensory impairment, their circumstances and their needs. We have also carried out a series of fact finding visits into the level of services locally for visually handicapped people and the information collected is currently being analysed.