HC Deb 17 November 1986 vol 105 c74W
Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people were registered as handicapped by local authority social services departments in England at the last date for which figures are available.

Mr. Major

Information on the numbers of persons registered with social services departments as physically or sensorily handicapped is collected triennially and the latest available data are given in the table.

England—Number of registered handicapped as at 31 March
Registration category Numbers of persons registered
1982 Blind and partially sighted1
Blind 111,729
Partially sighted 58,003
Total 169,732
1983 Deaf and hard of hearing 1
Deaf with SDeech 16,113
Deaf without speech 15,722
Hard of hearing 47,179
Total 79,014
1984 General classes 1 2
Very severely handicapped 72,154
Severely handicapped 457,235
Other 578,319
Total 1,107,708
1 Includes persons multiply handicapped and therefore on other registers.
2 But excludes persons on the register of the blind.