My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Low, for moving Amendment 142A.
The new clause seeks to replicate Clause 76 in the Care Bill, which would establish registers for visually impaired adults. The RNIB has, understandably, raised concerns that such measures for those under 18 are missing from this Bill. I agree with the noble Lord about the critical role of the register in planning services. However, local authorities are already under a duty to maintain a register of disabled children and young people under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989: the noble Lord, Lord Low, referred to the 1948 Act. This register includes blind children and young people; changes proposed through the Care Bill will not remove this duty. The RNIB, and the noble Lord, report that local authorities sometimes neglect their duty to maintain such registers. However, the same risk and difficulty would apply with the proposed new clause. It provides no greater statutory guarantee than that already provided by the Children Act.
We want to ensure that local authorities are effectively meeting the needs of blind or partially sighted children. There are a number of requirements in the Bill that should achieve this. Clause 22 requires local authorities to identify,
“children and young people in its area who have or may have special educational needs”.
Clause 26 requires local authorities to make joint commissioning arrangements that include consideration of the education, health and care provision reasonably required by local children and young people with SEN. Clause 27 requires them to review the special education and care provision that is available locally.
Together, these provide a clear framework that requires local authorities to plan for and meet the needs of children with SEN, including blind or visually impaired children and young people. Following discussion of this issue in another place, the Minister for Children and Families committed to give further consideration to these issues. Officials from the Department for Education met with the RNIB to agree a way forward. As a result, page 36 of the draft SEN code of practice highlights the importance of using the registers to plan services. The code states:
“Local authorities are required under schedule 2 of the Children Act 1989 to maintain a register of disabled children in their area. These registers are particularly helpful for providing data on low-incidence needs that can be difficult to predict from national data sets.”
The noble Lord, Lord Low, referred to low-incidence needs.
I hope this removes any doubt or misinformation that registers of disabled children are somehow no longer required. I hope that the duties in the Bill, along with the additional guidance added to the SEN code of practice, provide sufficient reassurance that we expect, and require, local authorities to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with a visual impairment. I therefore hope that the noble Lord, Lord Low, will feel able to withdraw his amendment in due course.