More than meets the eye

Poverty and isolation may await many visually impaired people if the Welfare Reform Bill is passed in its current form according to research supported by Action for Blind People.

Sight loss charities including Action for Blind People, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, National Blind Children's Society, RNIB, Sense, National Federation of the Blind and Visionary have produced a report called More than Meets the Eye, about why the welfare cuts will hit blind and partially sighted people particularly hard.

You can download the full report, More than meets the eye, which has been published by RNIB.

This report highlights that:

  • 2011 will prove especially tough for blind and partially sighted people.
  • Cuts to benefits and in public services will move people with a visual impairment further away from work but without the support they need to lead independent lives.
  • As many as 12,000 people registered blind or partially sighted could lose their Disability Living Allowance entitlement from 2013. The Government plans to replace the benefit using a new assessment, which could lead to a reduction in the overall claimant count of one fifth.
  • 92 percent of employers say they would find it “impossible” or “difficult” to employ someone blind or partially sighted yet the government proposes to limit out-of-work support. Claimants on contributory Employment and Support Allowance must defy the odds and secure work within 12 months.
  • Blind and partially sighted people will find themselves in an unenviable position, with councils rationing even more tightly the support they provide to disabled people. Cuts to social care, transport and advice services will feel like a double whammy if benefits are also to be removed.
  • The extra costs associated with living with a visual impairment also look set to rise but blind and partially sighted people’s disposable incomes will shrink. Blind and partially sighted people on the lower rate of Disability Living Allowance (mobility) are looking at having to forgo 20 Taxicard journeys in 2014/15.

Posted on 31 January 2011, in Welfare rights