§ 22. Mr. Abseasked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies whether he has now completed his discussions with the International Planned Parenthood Federation concerning the establishment of a subsidised private family planning clinic in the Seychelles and when it is now anticipated such a clinic will be opened.
§ Mr. SandysThis has been discussed with the Federation, and with representative opinion in the Seychelles. I am considering the matter further in the light of these talks.
§ 23. Mr. Abseasked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies, why family planning clinics giving instruction in birth control 154W techniques involving the use of contraceptives are either prohibited or not in existence in Antigua, Basutoland, British Honduras, Bahamas, Brunei, Bechuanaland, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Grenada, Gambia, Gibraltar, Malta, Montserrat, Northern Rhodesia, New Hebrides, Nyasaland, St. Helena, St. Lucia, Seychelles, Swaziland, Turks and Caicos Islands, Virgin Islands, and the Western Pacific; what was the total grant in aid given by the United Kingdom to dependencies last year; and whether, in view of the world population explosion, he will take steps to found birth control clinics open to all those wishing to use them in those dependencies for whose health administration he is responsible.
§ Mr. SandysThe total of grants in aid in 1963–64 (excluding aid under the C.D. & W. Act) was £17,454,000. In eight of these territories, though there are no clinics as such, instruction is made available in hospitals or by Government medical officers. In the other territories there are no clinics for a variety of reasons, for example, because there is no population problem or because clinics would not be acceptable to the community as a whole.