§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the incidence per 1,000 population of(a) under-16 pregnancies, (b) 16 to 18-years-old pregnancies, (c) under-16 having abortions and (d) 16 to 18-years-old having abortions in (i) St. Helens, (ii) Merseyside, (iii) the North West and (iv) England in each year since 1996. [71278]
§ Ruth Kelly[holding answer 23 July 2002]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Shaun Woodward Esq MP, dated 24 July 2002:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on incidences per 1,000 population of (a) under 16 pregnancies, (b) 16 to 18-years-old pregnancies, (c) under 16 having abortions and (d) 16 to 18-years-old having abortions in (i) St. Helens (ii) Merseyside (iii) the North West and (iv) England in (A) 1996, (B) 1997, (C) 1998, (D) 1999, (E) 2000 and (F) 2001. (71278)The information requested is given in the table.1197W
Conception and abortion rates in St. Helens, Merseyside, North West Region and England 1996–2001 Year of occurrence Area of residence 1996 1997 1998 1999 12000 12001 Conception rates at ages under 162 St. Helens3 12.1 11.6 12.3 11.7 11.4 4— Merseyside 7.9 8.2 8.5 8.1 8.4 4— North West 9.8 8.5 8.9 8.8 8.6 4 — GOR — — — — — England 9.3 8.8 8.8 8.2 8.3 4— Conception rates at ages 16 to 185 St. Helens3 88.5 73.6 80.6 97.0 71.5 4— Merseyside 73.6 72.4 76.2 75.0 69.1 4— North West 72.6 70.8 74.1 69.7 69.8 4— GOR — — — — — — England 64.4 64.1 66.7 64.1 63.4 4— Conception rates at ages under 162 St. Helens3 3.8 4.8 3.3 3.6 4.7 4.1 Merseyside 3.0 3.5 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.1 North West 3.8 3.6 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.8 GOR — — — — — — England 3.9 3.7 4.0 3.8 3.9 3.7
Conception and abortion rates in St. Helens, Merseyside, North West Region and England 1996–2001 Year of occurrence Area of residence 1996 1997 1998 1999 12000 12001 Abortion rates at ages 16 to 185 St. Helens3 23.7 23.5 26.7 26.0 23.0 18.8 Merseyside 24.2 25.7 28.4 27.9 28.5 26.8 North West 22.8 22.8 24.4 23.6 25.9 24.8 GOR — — — — — — England 22.5 22.7 24.6 24.1 24.6 24.9 1 Conception data for 2000 and abortion date for 2001 are provisional. 2 Rates per 1,000 resident females aged 13 to 15. 3Population denominators are less reliable than for larger areas. 4Not yet available. 5Rates per 1,000 resident females aged 16 to 18.