Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to undertake a review of vision rehabilitation provision across England.

The Department is not planning to undertake a review of vision rehabilitation provision across England. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are responsible for commissioning social care services, including reablement.

Guidance to support the implementation of the Care Act 2014 says local authorities should consider securing specialist qualified rehabilitation and assessment provision, whether in-house, or contracted through a third party, to ensure that the needs of people with sight loss are correctly identified and their independence maximised. Certain aspects of independence training with sight impaired and severely sight impaired people require careful risk management, and should only be undertaken by professionals with relevant experience and training.