§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has concerning the
Area Year 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 Numbers of illegitimate live births Scotland 6,025 5,968 6,304 6,960 7,678 8,447 9,395 9,581 10,640 12,362 Northern Ireland 1,330 1,383 1,523 1,668 1,751 1,902 2,112 2,383 2,802 3,195 Wales 2,868 2,821 2,992 3,344 3,896 4,022 4,614 5,145 6,026 6,964 ENGLISH REGIONS North 3,584 3,662 4,045 4,627 5,074 5,266 5,913 6,513 7,372 8,612 Yorkshire and Humberside 5,731 5,699 6,290 7,087 8,067 8,434 9,396 10,491 11,694 13,350 East Midlands 4,035 4,081 4,572 5,347 5,949 6,176 6,787 7,526 8,334 9,825 East Anglia 1,423 1,536 1,714 1,845 2,246 2,245 2,448 2,726 3,039 3,555 South East 18,471 19,503 21,338 24,287 26,794 27,780 30,214 33,042 36,263 40,828 South West 3,658 3,711 3,989 4,550 4,953 5,211 5,780 6,369 7,314 8,511 West Midlands 5,600 5,674 6,376 7,424 8,348 8,642 9,780 10,898 11,970 13,528 North West 8,324 8,612 9,259 10,889 11,982 13,162 14,870 16,457 18,418 21,026 Percentage of total live births—illegitimate Scotland 9.3 9.6 9.8 10.2 11.1 12.2 14.2 14.7 16.3 18.5 Northern Ireland 5.0 5.4 5.8 5.9 6.1 7.0 7.8 8.7 10.1 11.6 Wales 8.6 8.9 9.0 9.3 10.5 11.2 12.9 14.5 16.8 19.0 ENGLISH REGIONS North 9.8 10.2 10.6 11.2 12.3 13.2 15.1 16.7 18.8 21.1 Yorkshire and Humberside 10.0 10.3 10.7 11.4 12.5 13.5 15.2 16.7 18.6 20.7 East Midlands 8.8 9.2 9.9 10.9 11.6 12.6 14.1 15.6 17.1 19.6 East Anglia 6.5 7.2 7.8 7.8 9.1 9.5 10.7 11.8 12.8 14.5 South East 9.3 9.9 10.3 11.0 11.9 12.6 14.0 15.3 16.5 18.0 South West 7.9 8.2 8.4 9.0 9.5 10.3 11.5 12.7 14.2 15.9 West Midlands 8.9 9.4 10.0 10.9 11.7 12.8 14.4 16.0 17.5 19.3 North West 10.6 11.4 11.7 12.8 13.8 15.5 17.6 19.4 21.6 23.9