Population (Hansard, 22 July 1974)

§ Mr. John Grant

Within a few days of the appointment of the Lord Privy Seal as Minister responsible for co-ordinating work on population matters, the Prime Minister stated that the Government accepted the broad conclusions of the report of the Population Panel.

The panel's three major recommendations were, first, that policy on family planning should take account of population and that a comprehensive family planning service should be developed as part of the National Health Service; second, that further research was needed into the causes and possible effects of changes in population trends so that better information might be available both to the Government to assist in the formulation of policy in other fields and to the public to help them reach a better informed judgment of the issues; and third, that a senior, non-departmental Minister should be given responsibility for population, with the support of a small unit in the Cabinet Office which would also maintain close links with Government Departments.

As to the first recommendation, the previous Government had already taken steps to introduce a family planning service as part of the National Health Service in the hope of reducing the unhappiness and ill health which might result from unplanned pregnancies. But as the Population Panel pointed out, adequate knowledge of reliable methods of contraception should result in many parents having smaller families. We have gone further than our predecessors by making sure that patients who go to family planning clinics do not need to pay for supplies prescribed and dispensed for their use. We are continuing to negotiate with the medical professions about their participation in a family planning service; and we are providing substantial additional money this year for family planning training.

This Government, like their predecessors, have given effect to the third main recommendation of the Population Panel. By appointing a Minister and accepting the broad conclusions of the panel's report we acknowledge that questions of population are quite properly a matter for the concern of the Government and that we must indicate the extent to which such issues influence our policies and choice of priorities. We also recognise 329W that this is a field in which voluntary bodies have a part to play and we appreciate the contribution they are making in helping to extend the family planning service and in promoting well-informed public discussion of population matters.

Action still remains to be taken on the second recommendation. The Population Panel pointed out that our present knowledge of the causes and possible effects of changes in population trends does not provide an adequate basis for policy. We need to identify significant new trends and to assess their long-term demographic, social and economic implications.

The importance of this is underlined by recent trends. For example, there is much concern about the number of unwanted pregnancies at a time when family planning facilities have become widely available. Again we have heard much from various sides about the need to halt the growth of population in the United Kingdom. But this growth is already declining without any deliberate intervention by the Government, although this does not imply a reduction in the population itself.

The average annual rate of growth in the decade 1961–71 was 0.5 per cent.; in 1971–72 and again in 1972–73 it was 0.3 per cent.; and in 1973–74 it is estimated at little more than 0.1 per cent. This decline in the rate of growth affects our estimates of the size of population which we shall need to accommodate by the end of the century. The factors which have caused the decline are highly complex and we need to know more about them. The Government therefore propose to give higher priority to survey and research work to study fertility, mortality and migration.

Two subsidiary matters considered by the Population Panel were the rôle of education in establishing attitudes to family planning and the possibility that there might be a movement towards a smaller family size if married women had better employment opportunities outside the home. It is for the education authorities and the schools themselves to decide what subjects shall be taught, but the Government hope that teachers will be encouraged to refer to family planning as an important issue in courses designed to help pupils to grow up into mature and responsible citizens. We 330W have already announced that we intend to introduce a Bill in the autumn which will remove discrimination against women and secure equal status for them.

The Government recognise that, although our own population may not be growing very fast, the rate of population growth in other countries is much higher. Our view, which is also that of the United Nations, is that Governments must remain responsible for their own population policies, and we agree that these policies must respect the basic right of people to decide on the number and spacing of their children, and to have access to the information and means to enable them to do this.

We must, however, be ready to support international efforts to help countries which ask for assistance in dealing with problems connected with population. The Government are major supporters of two international bodies in this field, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, which is helping with about 900 projects in 90 developing countries, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation which is supporting projects in more than 100 countries. The United Kingdom contribution to these two bodies this year amounts to £1.7 million. We also provide assistance direct to the Governments of some of the developing countries who ask for it. Recently, for example, we have given a grant of £66,000 to Ghana to equip family planning clinics and film vans for a family planning campaign; £46,000 for a research study on oral contraceptives in Singapore; and £60,000 towards a demographic survey in Bangladesh. The Ministry of Overseas Development has a Population Bureau which is ready to advise developing countries which seek help. The bureau organises projects in Britain and also helps with the training of students from abroad.

The Government have taken an active part in the preparations for the World Population Conference in Bucharest in August, and we shall be represented by a delegation which the Lord Privy Seal hopes to lead and which I hope to attend as alternate leader. The United Kingdom statement of policy which has been submitted to the Secretary General of the World Population Conference is also published today and copies will be placed in the Vote Office.