§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consideration he has given to the report "Blind and Partially Sighted Adults in Britain—The RNIB Needs Survey"; what action he will be taking in relation to its findings; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettThe Department has secured a copy of this report within the last week and we are studying it with interest. It is the result of a survey carried out in 1986–87, complementary to the wider disability surveys carried out by OPCS, whose reports were published in 1989–90.
We already have a programme of action in hand to improve services for people with visual impairments. In 1990 the Welsh Office issued a working group report "Co-ordinating Services for Visually Handicapped People" and in May of that year published a major guidance circular on best practice in the provision of support and care to people with physical or sensory disabilities.
That advice has been followed up by full guidance on the implementation in Wales of our comprehensive programme to improve community care for all groups which is set out in chapter 11 of the "Caring for People" White Paper [Cm 849]. In addition, the Welsh Office will publish shortly the report of the social services inspectorate inspection of services for people with visual impairment in Gwynedd. This was carried out with RNIB assistance and will be used with the RNIB national survey findings as the basis of a seminar on further guidance early next year.