asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will issue guidelines to institutions for the care of children and young people about the administration of psychotropic drugs; what are the consent procedures necessary before such drugs can be administered against the wishes of the child or young person concerned; and what are the arrangements for informing the parents and the authorities responsible for the care of such children and young persons that such drugs have been administered.

asked No. Responsibility for guidance on the administration of all drugs in institutions for the care of children and young people rests with the registered medical practitioner prescribing them. Except in an emergency he has a legal obligation to satisfy himself that the informed consent of the child or, in appropriate cases, his parents or those in loco parentis, has been obtained.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will now collect statistics about the use of psychotropic drugs in institutions for the care, custodial or otherwise, of children and young people on the same basis as those now collected about the administration of such drugs in prisons.

asked I do not have evidence to justify the collection of such statistics.