§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will require family planning clinics to seek information from persons under 16 years as to (a) whether the general practitioner was informed, (b) whether advice was received as well as contraception, (c) whether the patient feared she was pregnant, (d) whether the parents were aware that the patient was attending the clinic, (e) whether the patient agreed that the parents should be told, (f) what the reasons were if the parents were not told, and (g) whether the patient subsequently became pregnant.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI refer my hon. Friend to my replies to him on this subject on 27 October 1982—[Vol. 29, c.436–37.] As I indicated then, the Department's existing guidance stresses the need not to undermine parental responsibility and family stability in the provision of contraceptive advice to young people, and the consequential importance of involving parents as closely as possible. I do not consider that further guidance is necessary.