§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will review section 53 of the Children Act 1975 in so far as it causes a natural parent who has remarried to become an adoptive parent if the new spouse seeks to become an adoptive parent.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythSection 53 of the 1975 Act came into force in Scotland on 1 April 1986 and there are at present no plans to review its operation. The requirement that, in these circumstances, a natural parent must become
Perinatal mortality rates, per 1,000 births (live and still), to health board area, Scotland, 1974 to 1987 Health board area 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 Borders 30 13 13 16 10 18 18 9 10 8 13 5 8 3 Forth Valley 26 25 22 16 14 14 12 15 16 13 9 10 10 8 Dumfries and Galloway 19 23 21 16 16 13 15 12 7 13 10 10 7 7 Fife 23 19 15 14 15 15 13 11 13 10 11 10 11 13 Grampian 18 18 14 14 17 13 8 11 11 10 12 11 11 9 Highland 20 23 19 17 9 14 12 12 10 9 11 7 8 7 Lothian 19 20 17 16 17 14 12 11 12 11 13 11 8 8 Argyll and Clyde 22 24 24 22 14 16 13 12 11 11 12 10 12 8 Ayrshire and Arran 25 23 22 19 18 19 19 11 14 16 12 9 13 12 Greater Glasgow 23 23 20 20 16 13 14 12 11 9 10 10 9 10 Lanarkshire 29 22 18 25 18 15 14 13 14 12 10 9 14 9 Tayside 21 16 14 16 13 10 13 8 7 8 8 7 8 6 Orkney 27 8 4 — 4 20 8 4 8 13 16 21 9 11 Shetland 27 17 13 14 11 11 16 9 17 22 9 13 11 14 Western Isles 25 20 21 23 17 2 8 24 13 6 12 5 — 11 Scotland 23 21 18 18 15 14 13 12 12 11 11 10 10 9 Notes:
(1) 1987 figures are provisional.
(2) Comparable information prior to 1974 is not available.
(3) Figures for the smaller health board areas, in particular Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles, are based on small numbers of births and therefore rates vary considerably with small changes in the number of deaths.