To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by year for the last five years, the number of induced births carried out by each (a) regional health authority and (b) district health authority, and if he will show in his answer the age of the mothers in the following age ranges (i) under 16, (ii) 16 to 19, (iii) 20 to 24, (iv) 25 to 29, (v) 30 to 39 and (vi) over 40 years.

The information is not available in the form requested. The table shows the estimated percentages of induced deliveries by regional health authority for 1985, the last year of the hospital in-patient enquiry (HIPE) and for 1989–90, the first full year of the collection of maternity items in the hospital episode statistics system (HES). The 1989–90 figures are the latest available centrally.