Census shows Blackpool has highest ratio of people with disability in England and Wales

Figures just out show 35,459 people in Blackpool said they had an impairment – 24.7 per cent of the population.

Of these people, 18,111 (12.7 per cent) said their disability stopped them from carrying out regular activities "a little," while 17,348 (12 per cent) said it did so "a lot." But the overall proportion of disabled people is down from 2011, when 25.7 per cent said they had a disability.

The Equality Act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a "substantial and long-term adverse effect" on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Across England and Wales, the proportion of people with a disability has fallen from 19.5 per cent in 2011 to 17.8 per cent – despite the number of disabled people increasing from 10m to 10.4m. But the Office for National Statistics (ONS) warned the wording of the question was different in each census, with 2021 being the first to use the 2010 Equality Act definition of disability, and to explicitly mention mental impairments. Census 2021 director Jon Wroth-Smith said that the "unique circumstances of the pandemic may have influenced the results."

The latest data also shows a quarter of households in England and Wales have at least one disabled member. In Blackpool, there were 20,908 such households – including 5,837 with two or more disabled people.

Disability equality charity Scope said it was "high time" that society was more inclusive of those with disabilities. Craig Moss, research manager, said: “Disabled people are repeatedly forgotten by government, business and society. Life costs a lot more, and disabled people have to fight to get the support they need."

The census also shows a general improvement in health nationally. More people said their health was "very good" – 47.5 per cent compared to 45 per cent in 2011, while the proportion saying it was "very bad" dropped from 1.4 per cent to 1.2 per cent.

In March 2021, 40.9 per cent of Blackpool residents described their health as "very good" – up from 39.5 per cent in 2011. Meanwhile, those saying their health as "very bad" fell from 2.2 per cent to 2.1 per cent.