§ Mr. GerrardTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what area of residence, other than health authorities, statistics are collected on abortions performed by the NHS. [63606]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Neil Gerrard, dated 14 December 1998:
As Director of the Office of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the areas for which abortion statistics are collected.Under Section 2(2) of the Abortion Act 1967, registered medical practitioners must notify the Chief Medical Officer of every completed termination of pregnancy, and the ONS undertakes the statistical processing of the abortions data. Data is currently published at NHS Executive Regional Office level and health authority level.