§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list all the children who have died while in the care of a local authority snce 1970, the dates of their death, the causes of their death in each case, their age at death, how long they had been in local authority care, and what action was taken following their death in each case.
§ Mr. John PattenFull information in the form requested is not available. Annual unit returns on children544W in the care of local authorities are made to the Department and include information about the number of children in care who died during the year analysed by age and by the length of their most recent period in care. Cause of death is not given. The information available from these returns is contained in the Department's annual publication "Children in Care of Local Authorities", copies of which are in the Library. The number of deaths reported in the returns for the financial years 1970–71 to 1982–83 is as follows:
Year Number 1970–71 111 1971–72 115 1972–73 115 1973–74 106 1974–75 143 1975–76 132 1976–77 100 1977–78 99 1978–79 106 1979–80 93 1980–81 104 1981–82 103 1982–83 94