§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the changes to the compendium of guidance for private abortion clinics made in 1994; with which bodies he discussed these changes; and what parliamentary scrutiny they received; [6810]
(2) what factors underlay his Department's modifications to the compendium of guidance on procedures for approval of private sector places for termination of pregnancy under 1(3) of the Abortion Act 1967, as amended, and for registration of pregnancy advice bureaux, in 1994. [6809]
§ Mr. HoramThe compendium of guidance was first published in 1994 following a review of the procedures for approval and monitoring of the provision of abortion services in non-national health service premises and the conditions governing such provision. The compendium provides a single source for this information and brought up to date departmental requirements and guidance.
The following requirements were removed:
Questions about the hospital/clinic premises which were already collected by health authorities under their Registered Homes Act 1994 responsibilities.Control of fees for abortion at specialist clinics.Issue of timed receipts to patients.Control of advertising in this country.Control of advertising abroad.Personal declaration form.Changes were also made to the assurances governing day care provision.
The results of the review were announced in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth (Mr. Evans) on 20 July 1994, at columns 367–68. The then Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Bolton, West (Mr. Sackville), announced that 683W copies of the compendium were being placed in the Library. The Government continue to keep under review the requirements set out in the compendium of guidance.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what factors led him to remove the requirement for private abortion clinics to give an assurance that they would not advertise their services overseas. [6811]
§ Mr. HoramAssurances relating to advertising abroad were introduced in the early days of the Abortion Act to counter abuses at that time. Subsequent upon a 1991 European Court of Human Rights judgment, the assurances in relation to touting and diversion of patients were no longer appropriate. The number of foreign women coming here for abortion fell from a peak of 56,000 in 1973 to 12,000 in 1991 and has continued to fall to 10,337 in 1994.