§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will initiate a study as to whether the use of measles, mumps and rubella vaccines is related to learning difficulties in schoolchildren. [40062]
§ Mr. ForthThis is primarily a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health. I am advised that there are no plans to carry out such a study at present.
§ Mr. SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what consultation she, Ministers in her Department or departmental officials have had with her or their counterparts in the Department of Health in regard to the effect on school attendance of children vaccinated with measles and rubella inoculations over the past year. [40066]
§ Mr. ForthOfficials in this Department have been in close contact with colleagues in the Department of Health in preparation for, during and after the measles and rubella immunisation campaign on a variety of issues.
This Department collects and publishes information on pupils' attendance in schools only in terms of authorised and unauthorised absence. Any general health 934W implications for pupils, following the immunisation programme, would be for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health.