WIREDGOV

Statistics on the number of blind and partially sighted people who registered with their local authority during 2019-20 have been published by NHS Digital.

Registered Blind and Partially Sighted People, England 2019-20 contains aggregate information on adults and children who have opted to register with their local authority [1].

This publication includes registrations of new blindness or severe sight impairment, broken down by age group [2]. It also shows the total number of people who are on the register overall, as well as the number of registrations per 1,000 people.

The collection has been running since 2003 and is published approximately every three years.

Under under Section 77 of The Care Act 2014, local authorities are legally required to establish and maintain a register of sight-impaired and severely sight-impaired adults who are usually resident in their area.

The figures in this report do not include all blind and partially sighted people because registering with a local authority is optional for those who hold a Certificate of Vision Impairment (CVI) [3] from an ophthalmologist.

This certification information is also captured by Moorfields Eye Hospital. CVI data, showing the number of people certified with a visual impairment [4], is released as part of the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

Read the full report: Registered Blind and Partially Sighted People, England, 2019-20

Notes for editors

1. This report focuses on new registrations and also includes the total numbers registered. Some councils have told us that reductions on the overall register are due to data cleansing. Previous reports have also highlighted that the overall register is not always well maintained, as people who have moved areas, or died, may still appear on a Local Authority register.
2. This report is derived from aggregate data collected from local authorities of people who have registered with them, so is not a definitive list of people with a visual impairment living in the Local Authority.
3. Latest comparable data indicates that around 88% of people with a CVI are also registered blind or partially sighted with their local authority.
4. The Public Health Outcomes Framework is here