HC Deb 22 July 1997 vol 298 cc534-6W
Mr. David Stewart

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the forthcoming policy and financial review of the Scottish Community Education Council. [10344]

Mr. Dewar

My Department will conduct a review of the Scottish Community Education Council during 1997 under the programme of five yearly non-departmental public body reviews. The review will examine the status and functions of the Scottish Community Education Council in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance.

The first stage of the review will take the form of a "prior options" study. This will assess the extent to which the functions that the Scottish Community Education Council performs are necessary for the achievement of the Government's policies, and whether there is scope for privatising, contracting out or transferring all, or part of its functions to another body. The results of the prior options study will inform a detailed review of the Council's policy and financial management systems.

The review will also examine the roles of other organisations involved in the development of community education in Scotland and the scope for co-ordination of their activities with those of the Council to ensure maximum value for money from the central government resources available for community education in Scotland.

This study will commence in the late summer. In order to help ensure that all options are considered fully, comments from interested parties will be welcome. Comments should be sent by 12 September 1997 to:

Mrs. P. A. Morrison Head of the Community Education Branch

Type of birth 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 19961
Twins:
2 live 711 682 790 751 762 780 775
1 live, 1 stillbirth 15 22 11 25 13 31 22
2 stillbirth 5 5 6 4 3 5 3
Triplets:
3 live 14 18 15 10 16 27 27
2 live, 1 stillbirth 2 4 — — — 1 2
1 live, 2 stillbirth — 2 — — — 1 —
Quadruplets:
4 live 1 1 — — — 1 —
3 live, 1 stillbirth — 1 — — — — —
Quintuplets — — — — — — —
Sextuplets — — — — — — —
Number of maternities 65,556 66,630 65,307 62,946 61,224 59,271 58,831
1Provisional

Information on the number of multiple births in Scotland attributed to assisted conception is not available. The tables show, on a UK basis, the information on pregnancies and births following assisted conceptions provided by the annual reports of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

Pregnancies conceived from 1990 to 1994 through IVF or Donor insemination
Singleton Twin Triplet Quad or greater
IVF clinical pregnancies (includes frozen embryo transfer and ISCI)
19901 1,404 411 69 1
19912 1,491 503 75 1
1992 2,109 709 118 0
1993 2,807 847 148 1
1994 3,064 1,009 197 3
1995 To be published in 1997 annual report (October 1997)

Notes:

1Data collected by OPCS for the Interim Licensing Authority.

2 Data for 1 January 1991 to 31 July 1991 collected by OPCS 1 August 1991 to 31 December 1991 collected by the HFEA.

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