SOCIAL CARE FOR DEAFBLIND CHILDREN AND ADULTS

That this House welcomes the Department of Health's re-issuing of its guidance, Social care for deafblind children and adults; recognises that the guidance will have a significant impact on the 193,133 deafblind people in England; supports the calls from Sense, the UK's leading deafblind charity, that English local authorities implement the guidance without delay; acknowledges that deafblind people, their families and carers have a right to receive the appropriate level of assessment regardless of where they live and that they deserve a fair deal from their local councils; and recognises that less than half of the deafblind people identified by local authorities have received a specialist assessment and that the new guidance will reiterate that local authorities have a statutory duty to carry out proper assessments.