§ 90. Mr. AshtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the latest annual figure for the number of children in the United Kingdom who were born either mentally or physically handicapped.
§ Mr. FreemanThe information requested is not available centrally.
The third report from the OPCS on disability in Great Britain "The Prevalance of Disability Among Children", published last year following surveys in 1985 and 1988, estimated that there are some 360,000 children in Great Britain under 16 with one or more disability. The definition was wide enough to include most children usually considered to be physically or mentally handicapped. It is not possible to distinguish the number of children who were born either mentally or physically handicapped from those who acquired a disability later since the surveys did not publish information on whether disabilities existed at birth. A copy of this report is in the Library.