§ Dr. O'DONOVANasked the Minister of Health what is the nature of the personnel and organisation with in his Department charged with the duty to watch and advise him upon the effects of the trend of the birth rate upon housing and other social services in being or under discussion for which he is or may be responsible to Parliament
Sir H. YOUNGAs my hon. Friend is aware, the Registrar-General, whose Department is with in my ministerial responsibility, has under continual study the nature and direction of all the elements of population movement, the handling of which calls for general statistical experience, prior to their application to particular administrative problems. The Registrar-General is in frequent consultation with the principal officers of the Department with a view to the development of useful lines of inquiry and the satisfaction of particular needs; and data as to the general population prospects and the results of special studies are made available to them either in departmental papers or in the Registrar-General's standard publications. This material is applied to administrative questions in the case of
2057Wany particular subject-matter by the officers by whom I am advised in that connection.