§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what frequencies will be available for
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§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[pursuant to his reply, 12 June 1984, c. 459]: The available information relating to earlier years was given in my reply to the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody) on 24 October 1983 at columns 49–50. Later information is now available as follows:
Sterilisations, England and Wales Year Number Men National Health Service Hospitals inpatients 1981 *2,810 day cases 1981 *34,760 Family planning clinics 1982 13,162 Women Associated with delivery 1979 *16,050 1980 *13,650 Associated with terminations 1982 6,687 Performed in other circumstances 1980 *60,030 1981 *56,370 *Estimated. ambulances, doctors using radio paging units and general practitioners using such units, following the removal of present frequency allocations; and which allocated frequencies are to be removed.
§ Mr. ButcherI have been asked to reply.
The frequencies at 450–470 MHz currently used for a wide range of fixed point-to-point services, including control of hospital paging and ambulance radio systems, are being replaced by microwave frequencies or by land lines. They will be made available to meet the urgent need of the power and water industries, amongst others, to introduce automatic monitoring of outstations from central points and for a variety of land mobile services. These have been seriously constrained by the acute shortage of frequencies which they can use. Some paging systems currently operating at 27 MHz may also need to be found 369W alternative frequencies when the United Kingdom adopts the European standard for citizens band radio, but no decision has yet been taken on relocation.