§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many malformed babies have been born to mothers resident in the postal districts FK4, FK5 and FK6 in each of the past 12 years; and how these figures compare with the corresponding figures for the whole of Scotland.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe notification of anomalies at birth is not a statutory requirement and figures for the whole of Scotland are not available. The figures for FK4, 5 and 6 which are readily available show that the number of live births with anomaly were as follows:
Number 1976 34 1977 43 1978 39 1979 25 1980 41 1981 47 Of this total of 229 children born with anomalies, only 23 could be considered as having major defects.
Information is not yet available centrally for later years.