ABSTRACT
SECTION 29 (1) of the National Assistance Act 1948, gave the first tier local authorities permissive powers to “make arrangements for promoting the welfare of persons who are blind, deaf or dumb, and other persons who are permanently handicapped” but section 29 (2) also authorised the Minister of Health to require local authorities to undertake these services as a duty. And in fact the Ministry circular 87 of 1948 at once made the provision of services for the blind a duty, as did circular 15 of 1960 the provision of services for the deaf or dumb and the permanently handicapped. The Act requires that the services should be carried out in accordance with a scheme, and a model scheme was issued in circular 32 of 1951. The dates when the schemes of the authorities in the London area were approved, the numbers on their registers, and their net expenditure per 1,000 population on the blind and physically handicapped, are given in Table V.
