Slow progress on providing services

Deafblind people still face severe difficulties in accessing  services, five years after landmark government guidance, charity Sense has claimed.

Two-fifths of councils in England and Wales do not provide communicator guides, which give one-to-one communication support for deafblind people, while more than 10 per cent have failed to identify any deafblind people in their area. Sense estimates that there are 40 deafblind people per 100,000 population.

Under guidance, published in March 2001, councils must identify the number of deafblind people in their area and provide services.

Sue Brown, the charity’s head of campaigns, said councils providing good services for deafblind people  often employed a “champion” who would make it a priority. But deafblind people should receive suitable services as a matter of course, she said.

● See Communications Breakthrough