§ LORD AVEBURYasked Her Majesty's Government:
What would be the estimated cost of providing free family planning advice and prescriptions under the National 409WA Health Service, and on what assumptions concerning demand is the estimate based.
§ LORD ABERDAREProvisional research findings just received suggest that there may be about 6 million women in England with a theoretical, though not necessarily an actual, need for family planning. The figure needs further study, but on this basis the total cost would be £30 million a year, assuming the Family Planning Association standard charge to local authorities of £5 per year per person. In practice, of course, not all women at risk of unwanted pregnancy would wish to use family planning services. Authorities in London planting an entirely free service estimate a cost in 197273 of around £250 per 1,000 population, which would give a national cost of £11.5 million, but demand would vary in different parts of the country. The figures of £30 million and £11.5 million relate to the cost to the National Health Service of providing free family planning advice and supplies to all who want them regardless of medical or social need. The latter figure, unlike the former, makes allowance for those people who would not wish to undertake family planning and those who would prefer to make private arrangements.