§ Mr. Thorntonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many one-parent families there were at the recent most convenient date in (a) the whole of England and Wales, (b) the metropolitan areas, including the Greater London Council, and (c) Merseyside; and what was the corresponding figure in each case 208W tion of England and Wales, regions and local authority areas, 1961–1971 (page 32). Annual figures for 1971–78 are given in OPCS monitors, series PP1, reference numbers 78/5 and 79/3. Copies of these documents are in the Library.
Systems of local government in other countries differ so much that it is not possible to give figures that can be considered comparable to those for the metropolitan countries of England and Wales. The statistical office of the European Community has commissioned a study into the problem of defining comparable areas.