§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has made an estimate of the effects of local authorities cuts on perinatal death rates; if he will publish such information; if he will monitor the effects of such cuts; if he will provide additional aid to local authorities where the improvement rate is arrested by cuts; if he will give immediate aid if the perinatal mortality rate increases; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. KingI have not made any such estimate. I doubt whether it would be possible to establish any direct connection between overall levels of local authority expenditure and perinatal death rates, since local authorities are entirely free to determine their own pattern of expenditure as between different services, and since the impact of different local authority services on perinatal death rates must vary considerably.
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§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent he considers that perinatal death rates can give a guide to social deprivation in housing and other public facilities; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergA number of complex and interrelated factors are involved, and I have no reason to believe that housing conditions can be isolated as a factor of individual significance.