§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many abortions were performed in England and Wales on women resident in Northern Ireland by weeks gestation in the last five years for which figures are available; [56936]
(2) what is the total number of abortions carried out on residents of Northern Ireland in England and Wales since 1970; [56938]
(3) how many abortions were performed in England and Wales for each of the statutory grounds of the Abortion Act 1967 as amended on women resident in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [56937]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Crispin Blunt, dated 28 October 1998:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary questions on abortions.The information on how many abortions were performed in England and Wales for each of the statutory grounds on women resident in Northern Ireland requested is shown in the following table.
Legal abortions performed in England and Wales on residents of Northern Ireland by statutory grounds, 1993–97 Statutory grounds 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 All grounds 1,629 1,678 1,548 1,573 1,572 A (alone or with B, C or D) — — — — — B (alone) 1 1 — 1 — B (with C or D) — 1 — — — C (alone) 1,574 1,581 1,488 1,538 1,544 D (alone, or with C) 53 94 59 34 28 E (alone) — — 1 — — E (with A, B, C or D) 1 1 — — — F or G — — — — — Source:
Office for National Statistics 186W
I have enclosed a copy of "Conditions of the Act and statutory grounds" (for abortion) from the Abortion Annual Reference Volume series AB No 23 to explain the codes used.Information on abortions by weeks gestation is shown in the following table.
Legal abortions performed in England and Wales on residents of Northern Ireland by gestation (weeks), 1993–97 Gestation (weeks) 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Total 1,629 1,678 1,548 1,573 1,572 Under 9 537 575 521 486 460 9–12 784 797 744 800 810 13–19 280 280 260 252 266 20+ 28 26 23 35 36 Source:
Office for National Statistics
Information on the total number of abortions carried out on residents of Northern Ireland in England and Wales is shown in the following table.
Terminations to residents of Northern Ireland performed in England and Wales, 1970–1997 Year Number of abortions 1970 199 1971 648 1972 775 1973 1,007 1974 1,092 1975 1,115 1976 1,142 1977 1,244 1978 1,311 1979 1,425 1980 1,565 1981 1,441 1982 1,510 1983 1,460 1984 1,530 1985 1,637 1986 1,724 1987 1,746 1988 1,815 1989 1,816 1990 1,855 1991 1,775 1992 1,794 1993 1,629 1994 1,678 1995 1,548 1996 1,573 1997 1,572 Source:
Registrar General's Statistical Review 1970–1973
Abortion Statistics Series AB nos 1–23, 1974–1996
ONS Monitor AB 98/3, 1997
All figures for 1997 are provisional, and relate to notifications received by 19 May 1998. They are published in ONS Monitor AB 98/3 Legal abortions in England and Wales 1997, but are liable to change very slightly when final annual 1997 data are published in the Abortions Annual Reference Volume series AB No 24 in December 1998.
§ Dr. VisTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many abortions were carried out on Barnet residents in 1997; how many of these were carried out in NHS hospitals; how many were paid for by the NHS; how many were carried out by agency arrangement and paid for by the NHS; and how many were carried out in the private sector(a) inside and (b) outside Barnet. [56904]
187W
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Dr. Rudi Vis, dated 28 October 1998:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary question on abortions in Barnet.Provisional results indicate that there were 1,674 abortions performed on residents of Barnet Health Authority (HA) in 1997. Of these, 993 abortions were performed in NHS hospitals: 861 were paid for by the NHS and 132 were carried out by agency arrangement and paid for by the NHS.Of the 681 abortions performed on non-NHS premises, 5 were terminated in Barnet HA and 676 were terminated outside Barnet HA.Figures for 1997 are provisional, and relate to notifications received by 19 May 1998. They are published in ONS Monitor AB 98/3 Legal abortions in England and Wales 1997, but are liable to change very slightly when final annual 1997 data are published in the Abortions Annual Reference Volume series AB No 24 in December 1998.