§ Mr. Jesselasked the Lord President of the Council what are the terms of reference of the report on population and the 115W drop in the birth rate; how it is to be staffed; and why it will take a year to produce its report.
§ Mr. William PriceThe Report of the Population Panel (Cmnd. 5258), published in 1973, recommended that major stocktaking reports on population should be prepared every five to 10 years. My right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal has decided that the first report should be completed in 1977. It will draw on the latest information about birth and death rates and migration, and will examine the factors likely to affect the size of our population up to the end of the century and beyond. The work will be carried out by the Departments concerned, principally the Office for Population Censuses and Surveys, the Registrar General for Scotland and the Government Actuary's Department, and some of the necessary research is already under way. My right hon. Friend is anxious that the analyses should be as thorough as possible without adding to the overall work load of the Departments concerned. There is a great deal of work in collecting and analysing both existing data and new information and it will not be possible to complete this before next year.