asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the statistics given in Table Q1 on page 155 of Volume 1 of the Lane Report are the result of a 10-fold multiplication of actual figures derived from a sample of areas.

The figures in the table quoted are estimates obtained from samples of approximately one in 10 of non-psychiatric hospital in-patient spells in each region of England and Wales. The sample figures are grossed up using a multiplier based on all spells in hospital gynaecology departments in the relevant period.