Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has concluded his annual review of benefits; and whether this review considered how many blind and partially sighted people use disability benefits intended to cover the additional costs their disability incurs on basic essentials

The outcome of the Secretary of State’s annual review of State Pension and benefit rates will be announced shortly. Under the Equality Act 2010, public authorities are required to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and to consider the effects of his decisions on those with protected characteristics, which includes disability.

In England and Wales, as of February 2022, there were 43 thousand people with Attendance Allowance who report visual disorders as their primary condition and 21 thousand claiming Disabled Living Allowance. As of July 2022, there were 51 thousand people claiming Personal Independence Payment who report visual disorders as their primary condition. These figures exclude Scotland and Northern Ireland because these benefits are devolved to the Scottish Parliament and are a transferred matter in Northern Ireland.