§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, pursuant to his answer to the hon.
52W
Legal abortions by age: Irish Republic residents, 1970–1980 Year All ages Under 16 16–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45 and over not stated 1970 261 — 28 112 52 35 23 3 — 8 1971 578 5 63 254 143 49 39 12 2 11 1972 974 6 128 382 251 110 53 29 3 12 1973 1,193 6 171 514 277 114 65 29 3 14 1974 1,421 5 200 638 311 141 74 29 5 18 1975 1,573 4 227 677 347 158 72 43 4 41 1976 1,821 8 235 780 432 184 106 38 1 37 1977 2,184 6 310 905 493 252 124 59 8 27 Member for Berwick upon Tweed on 8 December, Official Report, c. 510, he will list the level of provision of neonatal intensive care cots in each of the South-West Thames, North-East Thames and North-West Thames regions as compared with that in the Northern region.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThis information is not collected centrally, and the most recent figures are derived from a special survey undertaken in March 1980. The position in the 4 Thames regions was then as follows:
Region No. of i/c cots No. of live births (1981) i/c cots per 1,00 live births North-East Thames 11 40,035 0.22 South-East Thames 16 44,485 0.35 South-West Thames 12 34,498 0.35 North-West Thames 21 46,383 0.45 4 Thames regions 60 175,401 0.34 Special inquiries were made of the Northern RHA for the purpose of answering the hon. Member's question on 8 December 1982 but regrettably I am now advised that the figure given of 8 intensive care cots in the Northern region was incorrect. There are currently 6 cots, as against 4 in January 1979 and 5 in March 1980. This represents a level of approximately 0.5 cots per 1,000 live births in 1981.