As respects the year of assessment 2000-2001 and subsequent years of asessment, the Principal Act is amended -

(a) by the substitution of the following for section 468:

"468. Relief for blind persons.

(1) In this section -

'appropriate percentage', in relation to a year of assessment, means a percentage equal to the standard rate of tax for that year;

'blind person' means a person whose central visual acuity does not exceed 6/60 in the better eye with correcting lenses, or whose central visual acuity exceeds 6/60 in the better eye or in both eyes but is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision that is such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees;

'specified amount', in relation to an individual to whom this section applies for a year of assessment, means -

(a) £3,000, in a case where either the individual or his or her spouse is a blind person, or

(b) £6,000, in a case where the individual and his or her spouse are both blind persons.

(2) This section applies to an individual for a year of assessment where the individual proves that -

(a) he or she was for the whole or any part of the year of assessment a blind person, or