Written Question: Abortion Statistics

Lord Moylan: To ask His Majesty's Government what recent advice they have taken from the UK Statistics Authority on fulfilling their responsibility under the Abortion Act 1967 to produce abortion statistics.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care, Lady Merron): In accordance with the Abortion Act 1967, all abortions in England must be notified to the Chief Medical Officer within 14 days of the procedure. This information is used by the Department to monitor compliance with the act. The Department also publishes this data in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, to ensure it is available to commissioners and providers of abortion services and others with an interest in abortion in England and Wales. There is no legal duty placed on the Department to publish data collected through abortion notification forms.

The Department regularly consults the Office for Statistics Regulation, which is the independent regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority, and provides independent regulation of all official statistics produced in the United Kingdom.