§ Mr. SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to reimburse in full the payments made by local authorities under sections 12 and 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 where they were made because persons were denied their statutory benefit by reason of recent Department of Health and Social Security industrial action.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThere are no statutory powers available to my right hon. and learned Friend for this purpose. Reimbursement at his hand had not been sought nor do I consider that it would be appropriate. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has, however, asked that its recent expenditure on this account should be disregarded for grant penalty purposes. My right hon. and learned Friend has undertaken to consider this request 139W carefully and awaits further detailed information from the convention. Meanwhile, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services, has included in the Social Security Bill provisions enabling local authorities and other bodies to make payments on his behalf when social security payments are prevented in an emergency, and providing for reimbursement of the payments made together with reasonable administrative costs.
Table 1 Abortions by Age and Gestation—Scotland 1980–1986 Year and Age Gestation (Weeks) up to 18 18–24 25–27 Not Known Total 1980 up to 16 221 15 — — 236 16–21 3,004 100 1 — 3,105 Over 21 4,424 137 3 — 4,564 Total 7,649 252 4 — 7,905 1981 up to 16 192 10 — — 202 16 to 21 3,575 82 2 — 3,659 Over 21 5,023 119 3 1 5,146 Total 8,790 211 5 1 9,007 1982 up to 16 229 17 — — 246 16 to 21 3,355 98 2 1 3,456 Over 21 4,613 109 1 — 4,723 Total 8,197 224 3 1 8,425 1983 up to 16 217 23 — — 240 16 to 21 3,343 94 — — 3,437 Over 21 4,657 124 1 — 4,782 Total 8,217 241 1 — 8,459 1984 up to 16 305 15 — — 320 16 to 21 3,805 99 2 — 3,906 Over 21 4,824 103 2 — 4,929 Total 8,934 217 4 9,155 1985 up to 16 290 14 — — 304 16 to 21 3,758 71 — — 3,829 Over 21 4,959 95 2 — 5,056 Total 9,007 180 2 — 9,189 11986 up to 16 298 9 — — 307 16 to 21 3,807 57 — — 3,864 Over 21 5,284 92 2 — 5,378 Total 9,389 158 2 — 9,549 1Provisional. As more than one statutory ground can be recorded the following figures show the number of occurrences of each statutory ground