(2) how many deafblind people there were in England (a) in 1997 and (b) at the most recent date for which figures are available.
The NHS Information Centre for health and social care does not collect information centrally about the numbers of communicator guides.
In 2001 guidance was issued to councils regarding the recording of deafblind registration. Where a person had a number of additional disabilities including deaf or hard of hearing, councils were advised to count these under the category of deaf and hard of hearing. Therefore in 1997, there may have been some people with multiple disabilities who may have been categorised as having a mental illness, learning or physical disabilities rather than in the categories “deaf” or “hard of hearing”.
Registration of blindness is voluntary and so the registers cannot be thought of as providing a definitive number of blind and partially sighted people. In addition, issuing of guidance such as that mentioned above may impact on the numbers and therefore, figures for 2003 (first collection after the guidance was issued) have also been provided in the following tables.
The following tables show the total number of people in England registered as blind or partially sighted who also have an additional hearing related disability.
Rounded numbers with additional disability of Of which: Deaf with speech without speech Hard of hearing 1997 1,010 280 735 2,835 2003 2,825 2n/a 2n/a 5,640 2008 3,565 2,830 735 8,685 1 Estimates have not been made where a council has not been able to provide the information separately for those with an additional disability, therefore the table contains the total only from those councils from which returns were received. 2 Data not available. Notes: 1. Figures for 1997 are based on actual returns received from 85 councils out of 119. Figures for 2003 are based on actual returns received from 131 councils out of 150. Figures for 2008 are based on actual returns received from 149 councils out of 150. 2. Data rounded to the nearest 5. Source: SSDA 902
Rounded numbers with additional disability of Of which: Deaf with speech without speech Hard of hearing 1997 2n/a 2n/a 2n/a 2n/a 2003 1,830 2n/a 2n/a 5,205 2008 3,710 2,205 1,505 9,315 1 Estimates have not been made where a council has not been able to provide the information separately for those with an additional disability, therefore the table contains the total only from those councils from which returns were received. 2 Data not available. Notes: 1. Figures for 2003 are based on actual returns received from 127 councils out of 150. Figures for 2008 are based on actual returns received from 149 councils out of 150. 2. Data rounded to the nearest 5. Source: SSDA 902