§ Miss Boothroydasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many one-parent families there are in Tipton, Wednesbury, and West Bromwich, respectively, and in Sandwell.
§ Mr. John PattenThe results from a 10 per cent. sample of census forms published in the 1981 Census County Report for the West Midlands (Part 2 Table 48), show that there were approximately 5,280 lone-parent families with at least one dependent child, and 4,480 lone-parent families with non-dependent children only, in Sandwell at the time of the census. Of this total of 9,760 lone-parent familes in Sandwell, the census also shows that the numbers in the wards of Tipton Green, Wednesbury North, Wednesbury South and West Bromwich Central were 410, 320, 260 and 250 respectively. Figures at ward level are not available sub-divided by whether the lone-parent has at least one dependent child or only non-dependent children. These figures use the census definition of "family"; they do not therefore include unmarried mothers who are living with their own parents. Nor do they include the small number of lone parents in households which comprise two or more families.