§ Mr. Boydenasked the Minister of Health (1) which of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Population, Command Paper No. 7695, with regard to population research, namely paragraphs 682 to 684, have been carried out; and on what date such recommendations were implemented;
(2) what steps have been taken to implement recommendation 685 of Command Paper No. 7695, relating to matters of social policy.
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§ Mr. PowellThese recommendations related to the improvement of vital statistics and to the promotion of population research. The official vital statistics are kept under review, and the Population (Statistics) Act, 1960, has made permanent, with some changes, the collection of additional statistics at the registration of births and deaths first authorised by the Population (Statistics) Act, 1938. Questions on duration of marriage and the number of children born were included in the population censuses in 1951 and 1961. Annual reviews of population trends are included in the reports of the Registrars General, and figures for the United Kingdom and for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are included in the Annual Abstract of Statistics.
No changes have been made in the Departmental responsibility for population statistics; current population trends and forecasts are made available to Departments concerned with social policy under the existing arrangements.