§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What the Braille grant to the Royal National Institute of the Blind, funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport under its Small Grants Scheme, which has been frozen at the same level since 1991 (following a cut of £50,000) would now be worth if it had been increased in line with the retail prices index; and, in view of the increased demand 203WA for Braille expected when Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act comes into effect, whether the grant's future is assured. [HL3809]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyIf the grant had been increased in line with the retail prices index since 1991–92, it would now have been worth £240,593. As part of the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, my department took a strategic look at what could be done to ensure blind and visually impaired people benefit in a much wider way from public library services than they do at present. By allocating the grant to the Library and Information Commission we aim to create a fresh impetus to the provision of library services to the blind and visually impaired people and to provide the opportunity for local authorities to embed these into the mainstream library service. In reaching our conclusion we were aware that the grant supports only a small element of the spending of over £6 million that the Royal National Institute makes on embossed literature. Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act will require public libraries to make adjustments to practices, policies or procedures that make it impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people to make use of their services and my department was aware of this as a possible use of the grant.