Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targeted support his Department is providing to families with a child with a vision impairment.

Children under 16 with a disability such as a vision impairment may qualify for Disability Living Allowance for Children (DLA) if they meet certain conditions. Families can access DLA regardless of income.

At the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced that benefits including DLA will be uprated by 10.1% in April this year, protecting the value of awards for the thousands of DLA recipients with vision impairments. From April 2023, those on the highest rate of DLA will see their award increased from £156.9 a week to £172.75 a week.

Children who are 16 or older and who have a vision impairment can make an application for Personal Independent Payment (PIP); a non-means tested benefit to help with the extra costs associated with their health condition or disability.

Families who are in receipt of benefits such as DLA or PIP may be eligible for one-off Disability Cost of Living Payments. At Autumn Statement, the Government announced that it will provide a further payment of £150 in 2023/24 to people in receipt of extra-costs disability benefits. This is additional to the £150 payment for recipients of disability benefits in 2022 already announced as part of the Cost of Living package in May.

For children with a vision impairment who are educated in special schools, funding comes from the Local Authorities’ high needs budgets. High needs funding will be rising to £10.1 billion in 2023-24 - an increase of over 50% from the 2019-20 allocations.