To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost is of merging the confidential inquiry into maternal deaths and the confidential inquiry into stillbirths and deaths in infancy. [122454]

The cost of merging the two inquiries during 2002–03 was £130,000. The merger will bring an annual saving of around £800,000, which is being re-deployed to extend the remit of other confidential inquiries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultations are being conducted in the Confidential Inquiry into Maternal and Child Health. [122455]

There have been two consultations on the constitution and structure of the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH). The first took place in 2001, following the overall review of the confidential inquiries carried out by Sir John Grimley-Evans in 2000. The second consultation, on the specific constitution and structure of CEMACH, took place from October to December 2002.