To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the forthcoming policy and financial review of the Scottish Community Education Council. [10344]

My Department will conduct a review of the Scottish Community Education Council during 1997 under the programme of five yearly non-departmental public body reviews. The review will examine the status and functions of the Scottish Community Education Council in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance.The first stage of the review will take the form of a "prior options" study. This will assess the extent to which the functions that the Scottish Community Education Council performs are necessary for the achievement of the Government's policies, and whether there is scope for privatising, contracting out or transferring all, or part of its functions to another body. The results of the prior options study will inform a detailed review of the Council's policy and financial management systems.The review will also examine the roles of other organisations involved in the development of community education in Scotland and the scope for co-ordination of their activities with those of the Council to ensure maximum value for money from the central government resources available for community education in Scotland.This study will commence in the late summer. In order to help ensure that all options are considered fully, comments from interested parties will be welcome. Comments should be sent by 12 September 1997 to:Mrs. P. A. Morrison Head of the Community Education Branch

Type of birth	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	19961
Twins:
2 live	711	682	790	751	762	780	775
1 live, 1 stillbirth	15	22	11	25	13	31	22
2 stillbirth	5	5	6	4	3	5	3
Triplets:
3 live	14	18	15	10	16	27	27
2 live, 1 stillbirth	2	4	—	—	—	1	2
1 live, 2 stillbirth	—	2	—	—	—	1	—
Quadruplets:
4 live	1	1	—	—	—	1	—
3 live, 1 stillbirth	—	1	—	—	—	—	—
Quintuplets	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Sextuplets	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Number of maternities	65,556	66,630	65,307	62,946	61,224	59,271	58,831
1Provisional

Information on the number of multiple births in Scotland attributed to assisted conception is not available. The tables show, on a UK basis, the information on pregnancies and births following assisted conceptions provided by the annual reports of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

Pregnancies conceived from 1990 to 1994 through IVF or Donor insemination
	Singleton	Twin	Triplet	Quad or greater
IVF clinical pregnancies (includes frozen embryo transfer and ISCI)
19901	1,404	411	69	1
19912	1,491	503	75	1
1992	2,109	709	118	0
1993	2,807	847	148	1
1994	3,064	1,009	197	3
1995	To be published in 1997 annual report (October 1997)