§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the cost of supporting children in care in each county in England for each of the last three years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. NewtonThe information requested is available in the personal social services statistics published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy for the years 1978–79, 1979–80 and 1980–81.
§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children were in care in each county in England for 1971 and for each of the last three years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. NewtonThe number of children in the care of each local authority in England on 31 March 1971 is given in the report to Parliament by the Secretaries of State for Social Services and for Wales entitled "Children in Care in England and Wales—March 1971" (Cmnd. 5100). Information for subsequent years is included in successive annual reports up to and including 1980, which is the latest year for which the information is available. Copies of these publications are in the Library of the House, but comparison of the figures from one year to another is not always possible because of the restructuring of local government.