§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children have been adopted in Great Britain since 1961; how many of these have been legitimate and how many illegitimate; and if he will show the figures year by year.
§ Mr. DeakinsThe following are the figures for England and Wales:
CHILDREN ADOPTED IN ENGLAND AND WALES Year Total Legitimate children Illegitimate children 1961 16,000 3,019 12,981 1962 16,894 3,068 13,826 1963 17,782 3,386 14,396 1964 20,412 3,916 16,496 1965 21,032 4,141 16,891 1966 22,792 4,912 17,880 1967 22,802 4,489 18,313 1968 24,831 5,483 19,348 1969 23,708 5,813 17,895 1970 22,373 6,427 15,946 1971 21,495 6,588 14,907 1972 21,599 7,932 13,667 1973 22,247 9,254 12,993 1974 22,502 10,065 12,437 1975 21,299 10,120 11,179 1976 17,621 8,753 8,868 335,389 97,366 238,023 I understand the corresponding figures for Scotland are:
CHILDREN ADOPTED IN SCOTLAND Year Total Legitimate children Illegitimate children Not stated 1961 1,609 * * * 1962 1,621 145 1,435 41 1963 1,683 175 1,486 22 1964 1,945 222 1,659 64 1965 2,018 205 1,788 25 1966 2,040 205 1,815 20 1967 2,140 218 1,900 22 1968 2,155 234 1,902 19 1969 2,268 295 1,952 21 1970 2,040 308 1,715 17 1971 1,904 281 1,608 15 1972 1,691 336 1,343 12 1973 1,914 401 1,499 14 1974 1,664 419 1,227 18 1975 1,680 473 1,185 22 1976 1,612 506 1,084 22 29,984 4,423 23,598 354 * Not available. In England and Wales where the status of the child—usually foreign born—is not 233W stated, the classification to "legitimate" or "illegitimate" is made on the best evidence available.