This data shows the number of people registered with Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs) in England as being blind and partially sighted by age, for years ending 31 March.
Age groups are: 0-4, 5-17, 18-49, 50-64, 65-74, 75 and over.
A decision was made to bring the most recent collection forward by a year for collection in 2008, due to concerns regarding the fall in the number of people newly registered as blind and partially sighted between March 2003 and March 2006. This means there will be no collection in 2009. Tables contain information relating to the year ended 31 March 2008.
The register is voluntary; however it is a precondition for the receipt of certain financial benefits. This is a factor that gives more credibility to the register for blind than to the register of the partially sighted.
The reliability of this information is difficult to determine and so cannot be thought of as a definitive number of blind and partially sighted people.
View data on NHS website
Further sight loss data is available from Royal National Institute of Blind People -RNIB
